Joseph Joubert (born May 7, 1754 in Montignac /Périgord, died May 4 1824 in Villeneuve-sur-Yonne ) was a French moralist and essayist.

From age 14 Joubert attended a religious college in Toulouse, where he later taught, too, until 1776. In 1778 he went to Paris where he met D'Alembert and Diderot, among others, and later became friends with young writer and diplomat Chateaubriand.

He lived alternatingly in Paris with his friends and in the privacy of the countryside in Villeneuve-sur-Yonne.

During his lifetime Joubert never published anything, but he wrote a copious amount of letters and filled sheets of paper and small notebooks with thoughts about the nature of the human being, literature and other topics, in a poignant, often aphoristic style. After his death his widow entrusted Chateaubriand with these notes, and in 1838, he published a selection titled Recueil des pensées de M. Joubert (Collected Thoughts of Mr. Joubert). More complete editions were to follow, also of Joubert's correspondence.

Joubert's works have been translated into numerous languages, into English by Paul Auster, among others.

Not to be confused with Joseph-Antoine-René Joubert (1772-1843), a general of the First Empire.

Quotes

• To teach is to learn twice.

• When my friends are one-eyed, I look at them in profile.

• Today there are no more irreconcilable enmities, because there are no more disinterested emotions: that's a good thing born from a bad thing.

External links

• Pensées, essais, maximes et correspondance de J. Joubert Joubert's works (French original) at the Bibliothèque nationale de France
• Review of translations by Paul Auster