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 wordFamiliarité is ease of manner or expression, distinguishable both from intimate disclosure and from goodness itself.
- In JoubertThe first-person distinction between turns of confidence and turns of familiarity separates confiding from easy sociability: knowing how to disclose something does not guarantee mastery of familiar speech.
- In this editionThe English translation uses confidence for confiding in the first witness and familiarity for the manner.
- A place to beginConfiding and familiar turns of phrase are separated.
- English renderings
- familiarity
Meaning
Familiarité is ease of manner or expression, distinguishable both from intimate disclosure and from goodness itself.
Use in the book
The first-person distinction between turns of confidence and turns of familiarity separates confiding from easy sociability: knowing how to disclose something does not guarantee mastery of familiar speech. In the dramatic example, such ease amid great danger indicates presence of mind and courage rather than inappropriate triviality. The final exclamation admits that familiarity can please even without goodness, though goodness makes it enchanting. These contexts keep social attractiveness from certifying moral worth and prevent familiarity from being reduced to prior acquaintance.
Places to read
- II, p. 479, entry 7, ¶1Confiding and familiar turns of phrase are separated.
- II, p. 594–595, entry 14, ¶1Conversational ease in danger can show courage.
- II, p. 783, entry 5, ¶1Familiarity pleases without goodness and enchants with it.
Translation in this edition
The English translation uses confidence for confiding in the first witness and familiarity for the manner. The quoted Léontine line is identified in the English translation as Corneille’s Héraclius, but Joubert’s punctuation is retained and the precise edition he used is not established.
Source note
Beaunier 1938, II, pp. 479, 594, 595, 783.