From the book
The Notebooks of Joseph Joubert, Volumes I–II
Joseph Joubert · Diotimos Editions · 2026
Browse this book’s lexicon →Orientation
At a Glance
- The wordThe diamond combines conspicuous material value with light and the difference between genuine and imitated brilliance.
- In JoubertCalling a diamond luminous mud compresses a precious object into humble matter plus visible effect.
- In this editionThe English translation retains vitrification, freedom, and joy.
- A place to beginPreciousness is recast as luminous mud.
- English renderings
- diamond
Meaning
The diamond combines conspicuous material value with light and the difference between genuine and imitated brilliance.
Use in the book
Calling a diamond luminous mud compresses a precious object into humble matter plus visible effect. The formulation about its essence or soul puts light first and makes vitrification the condition for star-like reflection. This is a physical-metaphysical image, not an account revised to agree with modern mineralogy. The comparison of true and false diamonds complicates visible similarity: equal facets and brilliance do not give their light the same freedom and joy. Those surprising qualities name an aesthetic judgment about the true, not an offered laboratory test for authenticity.
Places to read
- I, p. 161, entry 1, ¶1Preciousness is recast as luminous mud.
- II, p. 762, entry 9, ¶1Light becomes the diamond’s essence or soul in a qualified material image.
- II, p. 823, entry 4, ¶1Equal facets and brilliance do not erase the difference attributed to true and false gems.
Translation in this edition
The English translation retains vitrification, freedom, and joy. Its bracketed [there is] and [found] in the comparison are contextual renderings of damaged openings. The quoted Boileau attribution is preserved without claiming an independently checked locus or using an existing translation.
Source note
Beaunier 1938, I, pp. 161; II, pp. 762, 823.