Diotimos Library · Journals, Notebooks & Fragments Collection · Bilingual Edition
The Notebooks of Joseph Joubert, Volume II
Complete Notebooks · French with an independent English translation.
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Facing Pages · Branch 933 of 4529
Mr. Hochet and Mme de Sévigné. · Entry 4714
French
p. 18658 juillet.
L’art de bien dire ce qu’on pense est différent de la faculté de penser. Celle ci peut être très grande en profondeur, en hauteur et en étendue, et l’autre ne pas exister. Le talent de bien exprimer n’est pas celui de concevoir. Le premier fait les grands écrivains, le second fait les grands esprits. Ajoutez que ceux même qui ont ces deux qualités en puissance ne les ont pas toujours en acte, en exercice et éprouvent souvent que l’une agit sans l’autre. Que de gens ont une plume et n’ont pas d’encre! Combien d’autres ont une plume, de l’encre et n’ont pas de papier! C’est à dire de matière où puisse s’exercer leur style.
The Notebooks of Joseph Joubert, Volume II: Mr. Hochet and Mme de Sévigné.
p. 1866July 8.
The art of saying well what one thinks is different from the faculty of thinking. The latter may be very great in depth, height, and extent, and the other may not exist. The talent for expressing well is not that for conceiving. The first makes great writers, the second makes great minds. Add that even those who have these two qualities potentially do not always have them in act, in exercise, and often find that one acts without the other. How many people have a pen and no ink! How many others have a pen, ink, and no paper! That is to say, no material on which their style can exercise itself.
Socrates
Reading The Notebooks of Joseph Joubert, Volume II · Mr. Hochet and Mme de Sévigné. · Entry 4714
Ask about a concept, passage, contradiction, or connection.
Socrates will begin with this book and its sources.About This Reading Edition
Joubert’s notebooks return to the work of thinking and writing, the demands of friendship, and questions of faith, beauty and conduct. This edition pairs the French with a new English translation, preserving the order of the chosen source and the unfinished character of its fragments. Dates and source references allow readers to follow a thought through time or return to its printed context.
Historical Text and Translation
The French text follows André Beaunier’s 1938 edition of Les Carnets de Joseph Joubert, published by Gallimard from Joubert’s autograph manuscripts. Volume II continues the notebooks and includes seventy undated pieces. French and English are aligned paragraph by paragraph, retaining the source order, printed dates and page references so readers can return to the facsimile.
About Diotimos Editions
Diotimos Editions prepared this new English translation directly from the French, preserving Joubert’s distinctions, recurring images, ambiguities and unfinished thoughts. Translator’s notes clarify wording, references and uncertain readings: Essential keeps notes that help explain a passage, while All includes technical detail. Annotations from the 1938 source edition remain distinct from the new translator’s notes.
Rights
The linked facsimile records identify the French source as public domain in the United States. The new English translation and editorial notes are © 2026 Diotimos, with source annotations and new editorial contributions credited separately. This edition pairs the complete French notebooks with an independent English translation, preserving the distinction between Joubert’s text and its accompanying notes.