281 quotes
Justice is truth in action.
Pearls of Thought (1881)
Divorce. Its existence and use should be determined only by the interests of the children.
The Notebooks of Joseph Joubert (1883)
He must not cultivate his friends, but cultivate his friendships within himself. They must be kept, cared for, watered.
The Notebooks of Joseph Joubert (1883)
Of what must be said and what must not be said. The importance of knowing.
The Notebooks of Joseph Joubert (1883)
Does talent have any need of passions? Yes, of many passions — repressed.
The Notebooks of Joseph Joubert (1883)
Available. A thought is perfect only when it is perfectly available, that is to say when one can place it and detach it at will.
The Notebooks of Joseph Joubert (1883)
Reason does not reason. It goes straight to the fact or the consequence.
The Notebooks of Joseph Joubert (1883)
There must be several voices together in one voice for it to be beautiful. And several meanings in one word for it to be beautiful.
The Notebooks of Joseph Joubert (1883)
Strength is not energy. Some writers have more muscles than talent.
The Notebooks of Joseph Joubert (1883)
It is better to be concerned with being than with nothingness. Dream therefore of what you still have rather than what you have lost.
The Notebooks of Joseph Joubert (1883)
One must know how to enter the ideas of others and how to leave them. One must know how to leave one's own ideas and how to come back to them.
The Notebooks of Joseph Joubert (1883)
Tacitus. And all those words that are obscure only once.
The Notebooks of Joseph Joubert (1883)
They speak to the ear. I want to speak to the memory.
The Notebooks of Joseph Joubert (1883)
To draw up in advance an exact and detailed plan is to deprive our minds of the pleasures of the encounter and the novelty that comes from executing the work.
The Notebooks of Joseph Joubert (1883)
Glory. Lovelier to desire than to possess.
The Notebooks of Joseph Joubert (1883)
An oratorical style often has the same drawbacks as those operas in which the music prevents you from hearing the words. Here the words prevent you from seeing the thoughts.
The Notebooks of Joseph Joubert (1883)
A reason is often good, not because it is conclusive, but because it is dramatic,—because it has the stamp of him who urges it, and is drawn from his own resources. For there are arguments ex homine as well as ad hominem.
Pearls of Thought (1881)
Chastity enables the soul to breathe a pure air in the foulest places; continence makes her strong, no matter in what condition the body may be; her sway over the senses makes her queenly; her light and peace render her beautiful.
Pearls of Thought (1881)
You want to explain everything by the facts that are known to you. But the facts that are not known to you? What do they say?
The Notebooks of Joseph Joubert (1883)
The imagination has made more discoveries than the eye.
The Notebooks of Joseph Joubert (1883)