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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French Page · Branch 959 of 4529
Mr. Hochet and Mme de Sévigné. · Entry 4740
French
p. 191722 juillet.
Le mot patrie vouloit dire la paternelle. Ce mot a parmi nous un son qui n’a aucun sens pour notre oreille. La patrie est pour nous une chose morale. Champs paternels, terre natale, y correspondent; mais ce sont deux mots pour un. Le mot pays n’a que la moitié de sa signification. Ainsi ce mot patrie ne peut pas exciter dans nous les mêmes affections qu’il excitoit dans l’âme des anciens. Il ne va point droit au cœur comme le mot patria.
[Seconde rédaction.] Patrie. Ce mot, chez les anciens, vouloit dire la paternelle. Et il avoit pour eux un son qui alloit au cœur. Il n’a pour nous qu’un son muet, qu’un sens obscur. C’est un mot qui, n’étant lié à aucun autre mot connu, ne s’entend que par réflexion. Dans nos idiômes actuels, cet adjectif devenu substantif dénomine une chose morale et par conséquent il est froid.
The Notebooks of Joseph Joubert, Volume II: Mr. Hochet and Mme de Sévigné.
p. 1918July 22.
The word patrie meant the paternal. Among us this word has a sound with no meaning for our ear. For us, the homeland is a moral thing. Paternal fields, native land, correspond to it; but these are two words for one. The word pays has only half its meaning. Thus this word patrie cannot arouse in us the same affections it aroused in the soul of the ancients. It does not go straight to the heart like the word patria.
[Second draft.] Patrie. Among the ancients this word meant the paternal. And for them it had a sound that went to the heart. For us it has only a mute sound, only an obscure meaning. It is a word that, being linked to no other known word, is understood only through reflection. In our present languages, this adjective turned noun names a moral thing and is consequently cold.
Socrates
Reading The Notebooks of Joseph Joubert, Volume II · Mr. Hochet and Mme de Sévigné. · Entry 4740
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.