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 987 of 4529
Mr. Hochet and Mme de Sévigné. · Entry 4768
French
p. 1973« Des motifs de commerce » est doux. (Voyez Fénelon, sermon pour le jour des rois.) Des motifs de cupidité seroit dur. Cela seroit plus vrai (diroit Molé). Non; mais ici la vérité est dite avec plus de bonté : il y a plus de largeur dans l’expression, sans y avoir moins de justesse. La vérité prend le caractère des âmes où elle entre : rigoureuse et rude dans les âmes arides, tempérée, adoucie et comme polie dans les âmes qui sont aimantes.
The Notebooks of Joseph Joubert, Volume II: Mr. Hochet and Mme de Sévigné.
p. 1974“Motives of commerce” is gentle. (See Fénelon, sermon for the day of the kings.) Motives of greed would be harsh. That would be truer (Molé would say). No; but here truth is spoken with greater kindness: there is more breadth in the expression without less precision. Truth takes on the character of the souls she enters: rigorous and rough in arid souls, tempered, softened, and as if polished in loving souls.
Socrates
Reading The Notebooks of Joseph Joubert, Volume II · Mr. Hochet and Mme de Sévigné. · Entry 4768
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.