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 wordDouceur connects an affective quality with sweetness perceived through taste or style.
- In JoubertThe lexical reflection places gentleness and goodness among affective rather than abstract words.
- In this editionThe English translation uses gentleness for the personal quality and sweetness where taste or prose supplies the image.
- A place to beginGentleness is described as an affective quality.
- English renderings
- gentleness; sweetness
Meaning
Douceur connects an affective quality with sweetness perceived through taste or style. The choice of English word depends on the comparison being made.
Use in the book
The lexical reflection places gentleness and goodness among affective rather than abstract words. The comparison of soul and body then makes sweetness of feelings and ideas delight the soul’s taste, while flavors satisfy bodily taste. In prose, however, excessive sweetness becomes initially seductive and eventually unbearable. The pleasant quality is not unconditionally a virtue of writing. Its degree and duration matter.
Places to read
- I, p. 233, entry 3, ¶2Gentleness is described as an affective quality.
- II, p. 662, entry 1, ¶1Sweetness links feelings and ideas to the soul’s taste.
- II, p. 815, entry 12, ¶1Too much sweetness can become a fault of prose.
Translation in this edition
The English translation uses gentleness for the personal quality and sweetness where taste or prose supplies the image. It keeps the transition from first pleasure to later intolerance and the emphatic ridiculous, rather than reducing the criticism to mere reader fatigue.
Source note
Beaunier 1938, I, pp. 233; II, pp. 662, 815.