Quotations by:
    Joubert, Joseph


Grace is beauty in action.

Joseph Joubert (1754-1824) French moralist, philosopher, essayist, poet
(Attributed)

Sometimes attributed to Pensées (1838), but not found in any translation.

Somewhat more often attributed to Benjamin Disraeli. He did use the phrase (e.g., "Grace indeed is beauty in action" in Conington, Book 6, ch. 2 (1844)), but does not seem to have originated it. For example, in a speech in the House of Commons (1851-02-11), he is recorded as:

A great writer has said that "grace is beauty in action." I say that Justice is truth in action.

Unless Disraeli was quoting himself as a "great writer," it seems likely he had someone else in mind.
 
Added on 18-Feb-15 | Last updated 21-Aug-23
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Be charitable and indulgent to every one but yourself.

Joseph Joubert (1754-1824) French moralist, philosopher, essayist, poet
(Attributed)
    (Source)

Frequently attributed to Joubert, but with no citation from his works. Earliest quoted in Maturin M. Ballou, ed., Treasury of Thought (1884 ed.).

Sometimes given "but thyself."
 
Added on 19-Aug-16 | Last updated 12-Jun-23
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Writing is closer to thinking than to speaking.

Joseph Joubert (1754-1824) French moralist, philosopher, essayist, poet
Pensées [Thoughts], 1791 entry [tr. Auster (1983)]
    (Source)

I could not find an analog in other translations of the Pensées.
 
Added on 6-May-13 | Last updated 9-Jan-24
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God made life to be lived (the world to be inhabited) and not to be known.

Joseph Joubert (1754-1824) French moralist, philosopher, essayist, poet
Pensées [Thoughts], 1797 [tr. Auster (1983)]
    (Source)

Not included in standard collections of the Pensées.
 
Added on 3-Jun-13 | Last updated 26-Feb-24
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All ways of expressing ourselves are good if they make us understood. Thus, if the clarity of our thoughts comes through better in a play of words, then the wordplay is good.

Joseph Joubert (1754-1824) French moralist, philosopher, essayist, poet
Pensées [Thoughts], 1805 (1850 ed.) [tr. Auster (1983)]
    (Source)

Analog not found in standard translations of the Pensees.
 
Added on 7-Feb-24 | Last updated 7-Feb-24
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It seems that there is something spiritual in wine.

Joseph Joubert (1754-1824) French moralist, philosopher, essayist, poet
Pensées [Thoughts], 1805 entry (1938 ed.) [tr. Auster (1983)]
    (Source)

This entry does not show up in traditional collections of the Pensées (English or French), but from the full 2-volume Les Carnets, ed. Andre Beaunier.
 
Added on 7-Oct-13 | Last updated 18-Sep-23
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We are afraid of having and showing a small mind, and we are not afraid of having and showing a small heart.

Joseph Joubert (1754-1824) French moralist, philosopher, essayist, poet
Pensées [Thoughts], 1805 entry [tr. Auster (1983)]
    (Source)

I could not find an analog in other translations of the Pensées.
 
Added on 25-Mar-24 | Last updated 25-Mar-24
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All gardeners live in beautiful places because they make them so.

Joseph Joubert (1754-1824) French moralist, philosopher, essayist, poet
Pensées [Thoughts], 1806 [tr. Auster (1983)]
    (Source)

I have been unable to find an analog in other translations, or in the original French.
 
Added on 1-Feb-04 | Last updated 11-Jul-23
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History. We want to find moral lessons in it, but its only lessons are of politics, military art, etc.

Joseph Joubert (1754-1824) French moralist, philosopher, essayist, poet
Pensées [Thoughts], 1806 [tr. Auster (1983)]
    (Source)

I have been unable to find an analog in other translations, or in the original French.
 
Added on 18-Jul-23 | Last updated 18-Jul-23
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When I had the strength, I did not have the patience. I have the patience today and I no longer have the power.

Joseph Joubert (1754-1824) French moralist, philosopher, essayist, poet
Pensées [Thoughts], 1812 (1850 ed.) [tr. Auster (1983)]
    (Source)

Not found in other collections.
 
Added on 11-Nov-13 | Last updated 23-Oct-23
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He who has imagination without learning has wings and no feet.

[Celui qui a de l’imagination sans érudition, a des ailes et n’a pas de pieds.]

Joseph Joubert (1754-1824) French moralist, philosopher, essayist, poet
Pensées [Thoughts], ch. 4 “De la Nature des Esprits [On the Nature of Minds],” ¶ 39 (1850 ed.) [tr. Attwell (1896), ¶ 53]
    (Source)

(Source (French)). Alternate translations:

The man of imagination without learning has wings and no feet.
[tr. Lyttelton (1899), ch. 3, ¶ 16]

The man of imagination who is unlearned has wings and no feet.
[tr. Collins (1928), ch. 4]

 
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Questions show the mind’s range, and answers, its subtlety.
 
[Les questions montrent l’étendue de l’esprit, et les réponses sa finesse.]

Joseph Joubert (1754-1824) French moralist, philosopher, essayist, poet
Pensées [Thoughts], ch. 4 “De la Nature des Esprits [On the Nature of Minds],” ¶ 62 (1850 ed.) [tr. Lyttelton (1899), ch. 3, ¶ 21]
    (Source)

(Source (French))

While confirmed as an entry in the French, I was unable to find translations other than Lyttelton's in my various sources.
 
Added on 13-May-13 | Last updated 30-Jan-24
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Some find activity only in repose, and others repose only in movement.

[Les uns ne peuvent trouver d’activité que dans le repos, el les autres de repos que dans le mouvement.]

Joseph Joubert (1754-1824) French moralist, philosopher, essayist, poet
Pensées [Thoughts], ch. 4 “De la Nature des Esprits [On the Nature of Minds]” ¶ 19 (1850 ed.) [tr. Calvert (1866)]
    (Source)

(Source (French)). Alternate translation:

There are some who can only find activity in repose, and others who can only find repose in movement.
[tr. Lyttelton (1899), ch. 2, ¶ 11]

 
Added on 18-Mar-13 | Last updated 4-Dec-23
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Kindness consists in part, perhaps, in esteeming and loving people more than they deserve; but then there is a measure of prudence in believing that people are not always equal to what they are taken for.
 
[Une partie de la bonté consiste peut-être à estimer et à aimer les gens plus qu’ils ne le méritent; mais alors une partie de la prudence est de croire que les gens ne valent pas toujours ce qu’on les prise.]

Joseph Joubert (1754-1824) French moralist, philosopher, essayist, poet
Pensées [Thoughts], ch. 5 “Des Passions et des Affections de l’Âme [On the Soul],” ¶ 66 (1850 ed.) [tr. Attwell (1896), ¶ 71]
    (Source)

(Source (French)). Alternate translation:

A part of goodness consists, perhaps, in esteeming and loving people more than they deserve; but then a part of prudence is to believe that people are not always worth what we rate them at.
[tr. Calvert (1866), ch. 5]

Commonly truncated and paraphrased as:

A part of kindness consists in loving people more than they deserve.
[E.g. (1935)]

(Sometimes the "A part of" is left off as well.)

 
Added on 10-Jun-13 | Last updated 11-Mar-24
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Good impulses are naught, unless they become good actions.
 
[Les bons mouvements ne sont rien, s’ils ne deviennent de bonnes actions.]

Joseph Joubert (1754-1824) French moralist, philosopher, essayist, poet
Pensées [Thoughts], ch. 5 “Des Passions et des Affections de l’Âme [On the Soul],” ¶ 75 (1850 ed.) [tr. Calvert (1866)]
    (Source)
 
Added on 8-Apr-13 | Last updated 31-Oct-23
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Only choose in marriage a woman whom you would choose as a friend if she were a man.

[Il faut ne choisir pour épouse que la femme qu’on choisirait pour ami, si elle était homme.]

Joseph Joubert (1754-1824) French moralist, philosopher, essayist, poet
Pensées [Thoughts], ch. 8 “De la Famille et de la Société, etc. [On the Family and Society],” ¶ 9 (1850 ed.) [tr. Collins (1928), ch. 7]
    (Source)

(Source (French)). Alternate translations:

We should choose for a wife only the woman we should choose for a friend, were were she a man.
[tr. Calvert (1866), ch. 8]

One ought not to choose for a wife a woman whom one would not choose for a friend, were she a man.
[tr. Attwell (1896), ¶ 98]

One should only choose for a wife a woman whom one would choose for a friend, were she a man.
[tr. Lyttelton (1899), ch. 7, ¶ 4]

Do not choose for your wife any woman you would not choose as your friend if she were a man.
[tr. Auster (1983)], 1801]

 
Added on 20-Jun-23 | Last updated 20-Jun-23
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It is better to debate a question without settling it, than to settle it without debate.

[Il vaut mieux remuer une question sans la décider, que la décider sans la remuer.]

Joseph Joubert (1754-1824) French moralist, philosopher, essayist, poet
Pensées [Thoughts], ch. 8 “De la Famille et de la Société, etc. [On the Family and Society]” ¶ 71 (1850 ed.) [tr. Attwell (1896), ¶ 115]
    (Source)

(Source (French)). Alternate translations:

It is better to stir a question without deciding it, than to decide it without stirring it.
[tr. Calvert (1866), ch. 8]

It is better to turn over a question without deciding it, than to decide it without turning it over.
[tr. Lyttelton (1899), ch. 7, ¶ 61]

It is better to stir up a question without deciding it, than to decide it without stirring it up.
[tr. Collins (1928), ch. 7]

It is better to debate a question without settling it than to settle a question without debating it.
[Variant]

 
Added on 1-Feb-04 | Last updated 26-Jun-23
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The end of an argument or discussion should be, not victory, but enlightenment.

[Le but de la dispute ou de la discussion ne doit pas être la victoire, mais l’amélioration.]

Joubert - end of argument discussion not victory but enlightenment - wist.info quote

Joseph Joubert (1754-1824) French moralist, philosopher, essayist, poet
Pensées [Thoughts], ch. 8, ¶ 41 (1850 ed.) [tr. Collins (1928), ch. 7]
    (Source)

(Source (French)). Alternate translations:

The aim of disputation and discussion should not be victory, but improvement.
[tr. Calvert (1866), ch. 8]

The aim of argument, or of discussion, should not be victory, but progress.
[tr. Lyttelton (1899), ch. 7, ¶ 31]

 
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Necessity can make a doubtful action innocent, but it cannot make it commendable.

[La nécessité peut rendre innocente une action douteuse ; mais elle ne saurait la rendre louable.]

Joseph Joubert (1754-1824) French moralist, philosopher, essayist, poet
Pensées [Thoughts], ch. 9 “De la Sagesse, de la Vertu, etc. [On Wisdom and Virtue],” ¶ 20 (1850 ed.) [tr. Auster (1983), 1808]
    (Source)

(Source (French)). Alternate translations:

Necessity may render a doubtful act innocent, but it cannot make it praiseworthy.
[tr. Attwell (1896), ¶ 133]

Necessity may render a doubtful action innocent; but it cannot make it praiseworthy.
[tr. Lyttelton (1899), ch. 8, ¶ 16]

 
Added on 15-Jul-13 | Last updated 19-Mar-24
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Those who never retract their opinions love themselves more than they love truth.

[Ceux qui ne se rétractent jamais s’aiment phis que la vérité.]

Joseph Joubert (1754-1824) French moralist, philosopher, essayist, poet
Pensées [Thoughts], ch. 11 “De la Vérité, de l’Illusion et de l’Erreur [Of Truth, Illusion, and Error],” ¶ 57 (1850 ed.) [tr. Attwell (1896), ¶ 161]
    (Source)

(Source (French)). Alternate translations:

They who never retract, love themselves more than truth.
[tr. Calvert (1866), ch. 10]

Those who never retract love themselves better than truth.
[tr. Lyttelton (1899), ch. 10, ¶ 29]

Men who never take back their words love themselves more than truth.
[tr. Collins (1928), ch. 10]

Those who never back down love themselves more than they love the truth.
[tr. Auster (1983)], 1806]

 
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To be capable of respect is, in these days, almost as rare as to be worthy of it.

[Être capable de respect est aujourd’hui presque aussi rare qu’en être digne.]

Joseph Joubert (1754-1824) French moralist, philosopher, essayist, poet
Pensées [Thoughts], ch. 18 “Du Siècle [On the Age],” ¶ 38 (1850 ed.) [tr. Calvert (1866), ch. 13]
    (Source)

(Source (French)). Alternate translations:

To be capable of respect is well-night as rare at the present day as to be worthy of it.
[tr. Attwell (1896), ¶ 247]

To be capable of respect is almost as rare in these days as to be worthy of it.
[tr. Lyttelton (1899), ch. 17, ¶ 15]

 
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The great inconvenience of new books is that they prevent us from reading the old ones.

[C’est le grand inconvénient des livres nouveaux: ils nous empêchent de lire les anciens.]

Joubert - The great inconvenience of new books is that they prevent us from reading the old ones - wist.info quote

Joseph Joubert (1754-1824) French moralist, philosopher, essayist, poet
Pensées [Thoughts], ch. 18 “Du Siècle [On the Age],” ¶ 57 (1850 ed.) [tr. Auster (1983), 1808]
    (Source)

(Source (French)). Alternate translations:

The great drawback in new books is that they prevent our reading older ones.
[tr. Attwell (1896), ¶ 250]

That is the great drawback of new books: they keep us from reading the old.
[tr. Collins (1928), ch. 17]

 
Added on 4-Nov-13 | Last updated 9-Oct-23
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To teach is to learn twice.

[Enseigner, c’est apprendre deux fois.]

Joseph Joubert (1754-1824) French moralist, philosopher, essayist, poet
Pensées [Thoughts], ch. 19 “De l’Éducation [On Education],” ¶ 88 (1850 ed.) [tr. Collins (1928), ch. 18]
    (Source)

(Source (French)). Alternate translation:

To teach is to learn twice over.
[tr. Lyttelton (1899), ch. 18, ¶ 18]

 
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Words, like glass, obscure when they do not aid vision.

[Les mots, comme les verres, obscurcissent tout ce qu’ils n’aident pas à mieux voir.]

Joseph Joubert (1754-1824) French moralist, philosopher, essayist, poet
Pensées [Thoughts], ch. 22 “Du Style [On Style],” ¶ 25 (1850 ed.) [tr. Lyttelton (1899), ch. 21, ¶ 15]
    (Source)

(Source (French)). Alternate translations:

Words, like glass, darken whatever they do not help us to see.
[tr. Attwell (1896), ¶ 304]

Words, like eyeglasses, obscure everything they do not make clear.
[Source]

 
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History, like perspective, needs distance. Facts that are too abundantly attested cease, in some degree, to be malleable.

[L’histoire a besoin de lointain, comme la perspective. Les faits et les événements trop attestés ont, en quelque sorte, cessé d’être malléables.]

Joseph Joubert (1754-1824) French moralist, philosopher, essayist, poet
Pensées [Thoughts], ch. 23 “Des Qualités de l’Écrivain et des Compositions Littéraires [On Writers and Literature],” ¶ 119 (1850 ed.) [tr. Lyttelton (1899), ch. 22, ¶ 52]
    (Source)

(Source (French)). Alternate translations:

History needs distance, perspective. Facts and events which are too well attested, cease, in some sort, to be malleable.
[tr. Attwell (1896), ¶ 356]

History, like perspective, has need of distance.
[tr. Auster (1983), 1801]

 
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Genius begins great works; but labour alone finishes them.

[Le génie commence les beaux ouvrages, mais le travail seul les achève.]

Joseph Joubert (1754-1824) French moralist, philosopher, essayist, poet
Pensées [Thoughts], ch. 23 “Des Qualités de l’Écrivain et des Compositions Littéraires [On Writers and Literature]” ¶ 52 (1850 ed.) [tr. Lyttelton (1899), ch. 22, ¶ 19]
    (Source)

(Source (French)). Alternate translations:

Genius begins beautiful works, but only labor finishes them.
[tr. Calvert (1866), ch. 8]

Genius begins great works; labour alone finishes them.
[tr. Attwell (1896), ¶ 335]

Beautiful works. Genius beings them, but labor alone finishes them.
[tr. Auster (1983)], 1801]

 
Added on 25-Jul-23 | Last updated 25-Jul-23
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I love to see two truths at the same time. Every good comparison gives the mind this advantage.

[J’aime à voir deux vérités à la fois. Toute bonne comparaison donne à l’esprit cet avantage.]

Joseph Joubert (1754-1824) French moralist, philosopher, essayist, poet
Pensées [Thoughts], Introduction, “L’auteur Peint par Lui-Même [The Author’ Self-Portrait]” (1850 ed.) [tr. Auster (1983)], 1796]
    (Source)

(Source (French)). Alternate translations:

I like to see two truths at once. Every good comparison gives the mind this advantage.
[tr. Calvert (1866), "Notice"]

I like to see two truths at once. Every good comparison gives the mind that advantage.
[tr. Collins (1928)]

 
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All luxury corrupts either the morals or the taste.

Joseph Joubert (1754-1824) French moralist, philosopher, essayist, poet
Pensées (1838) [ed. Auster (1983)]
 
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A person who is never duped cannot be a friend.

Joseph Joubert (1754-1824) French moralist, philosopher, essayist, poet
Pensées (1838) [ed. Auster (1983)]
 
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In political institutions, almost everything we call an abuse was once a remedy.

Joseph Joubert (1754-1824) French moralist, philosopher, essayist, poet
Pensées (1838) [ed. Auster (1983)]
 
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Courage (in a soldier) is maintained by a certain anger; anger is a little blind and likes to strike out. And from this follows a thousand abuses, a thousand evils and misfortunes that are impossible to predict in an army during war.

Joseph Joubert (1754-1824) French moralist, philosopher, essayist, poet
Pensées (1838) [ed. Auster (1983)]
 
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And perhaps there is no advice to give a writer more important than this: Never write anything that does not give you great pleasure.

Joseph Joubert (1754-1824) French moralist, philosopher, essayist, poet
Pensées (1838) [ed. Auster (1983)]
 
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The staircase that leads to God. What does it matter if it is make-believe, if we really climb it? What difference does it make who builds it, or if it is made of marble or word, of brick, stone, or mud? The essential thing is that it be solid and that in climbing it we feel the peace that is inaccessible to those who do not climb it.

Joseph Joubert (1754-1824) French moralist, philosopher, essayist, poet
Pensées (1838) [ed. Auster (1983)]
 
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What will you think of pleasures when you no longer enjoy them?

Joseph Joubert (1754-1824) French moralist, philosopher, essayist, poet
Pensées (1838) [ed. Auster (1983)]
 
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Misery is almost always the result of thinking.

Joseph Joubert (1754-1824) French moralist, philosopher, essayist, poet
Pensées (1838) [ed. Auster (1983)]
 
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When you write easily, you always think you have more talent than you really do.

Joseph Joubert (1754-1824) French moralist, philosopher, essayist, poet
Pensées (1838) [ed. Auster (1983)]
 
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I don’t like to write anything down on paper that I would not say to myself.

Joseph Joubert (1754-1824) French moralist, philosopher, essayist, poet
Pensées (1838) [ed. Auster (1983)]
 
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In every kind of debauch there enters much coldness of soul. It is a conscious and voluntary abuse of pleasure.

Joseph Joubert (1754-1824) French moralist, philosopher, essayist, poet
Pensées (1838) [ed. Auster (1983)]
 
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Half myself mocks the other half.

Joseph Joubert (1754-1824) French moralist, philosopher, essayist, poet
Pensées (1838) [ed. Auster (1983)]
 
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Sexes. One has the look of a wound, the other of something skinned.

Joseph Joubert (1754-1824) French moralist, philosopher, essayist, poet
Pensées (1838) [ed. Auster (1983)]
 
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In political institutions, almost everything we call an abuse was once a remedy.

Joseph Joubert (1754-1824) French moralist, philosopher, essayist, poet
Pensées (1838) [ed. Auster (1983)]
 
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And perhaps there is no advice to give a writer more important than this: — Never write anything that does not give you great pleasure.

Joseph Joubert (1754-1824) French moralist, philosopher, essayist, poet
Pensées (1838) [ed. Auster (1983)]
 
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It is an element of all happiness to fancy that we deserve it.

Joseph Joubert (1754-1824) French moralist, philosopher, essayist, poet
Pensées (1838) [tr. Collins (1928)]
 
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Nations love dangers, and when there are none to be found create them to fill the want.

Joseph Joubert (1754-1824) French moralist, philosopher, essayist, poet
Pensées (1838) [tr. Collins (1928)]
 
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Perhaps we need, for worldly success, virtues which make us loved and vices which make us feared.

Joseph Joubert (1754-1824) French moralist, philosopher, essayist, poet
Pensées (1838) [tr. Collins (1928)]
 
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Maxims are to the intellect what laws are to actions; they do not enlighten, but they guide and direct; and although themselves blind, are protective. They are like the clue in the labyrinth, or the compass in the night.

Joseph Joubert (1754-1824) French moralist, philosopher, essayist, poet
Pensées, # 138 (1838)
    (Source)

Alt. trans.: "Maxims are to the intelligence what laws are to action: they do not illuminate, but they guide, they control, they rescue blindly. They are the clue in the labyrinth, the ship's compass in the night."
 
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Chance generally favors the prudent.

Joseph Joubert (1754-1824) French moralist, philosopher, essayist, poet
Pensées, # 147 (1838) [tr. Atwell]

Variant: "Chance generally favors the prudent man."
 
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Justice is truth in action.

Joseph Joubert (1754-1824) French moralist, philosopher, essayist, poet
Pensées, # 203 (1838) [tr. Attwell (1877)]
 
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Children have more need of models than of critics.

Joseph Joubert (1754-1824) French moralist, philosopher, essayist, poet
Pensées, # 261 (1838) [tr. Attwell (1877)]

(also attrib. Carolyn Coats)
 
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Never cut what you can untie.

Joseph Joubert (1754-1824) French moralist, philosopher, essayist, poet
Pensées, #1797 (1838) [tr. Collins (1928)]

Alt. trans.: "Don't cut what you can untie." [Notebooks, ed. Paul Auster (1983)]
 
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A work is perfectly finished only when nothing can be added to it and nothing taken away.

Joseph Joubert (1754-1824) French moralist, philosopher, essayist, poet
Pensées, #1809 (1838) [tr. Auster (1983)]
 
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