“From the sublime to the ridiculous is but a step.”
Speaking about troubles in the invasions of Russia (10 December 1812), as recorded by Abbé du Pradt, and quoted in History of Europe from the Commencement of the French Revolution in 1789, to the Restoration of the Bourbons in 1815, Vol. 3 (1842) by Sir Archibald Alison, p. 593
Variant translations:
There is but one step from the sublime to the ridiculous.
There is only one step from the sublime to the ridiculous.
Help us to complete the source, original and additional information
Napoleon I of France 259
French general, First Consul and later Emperor of the French 1769–1821Related quotes

“Nobody's perfect. We're all just one step up from the beasts and one step down from the angels.”
Source: Half Broke Horses
“I have come one step away from everything and here I stay, far from everything, one step away.”
He llegado a un paso de todo. Y aquí me quedo, lejos de todo, un paso.
Voces (1943)

“The 12-step chocoholics program: Never be more than 12 steps away from chocolate!”
Variant: The 12-step chocolate program: NEVER BE MORE THAN 12 STEPS AWAY FROM CHOCOLATE!

“From fanaticism to barbarism is only one step.”
Essai sur le Mérite de la Vertu (1745); a translation and adaptation of Inquiry concerning Virtue or Merit (1699) by Anthony Ashley-Cooper, 3rd Earl of Shaftesbury
Source: Essai sur le mérite et la vertu

“It is time to step back from the apartheid brink…”
2010s, Diversity: History's Pathway to Chaos (2016)

“From symbiosis to parasitism is a short step. The word is now a virus.”
The Ticket That Exploded (1962)
Context: The 'Other Half' is the word. The 'Other Half' is an organism. Word is an organism. The presence of the 'Other Half' is a separate organism attached to your nervous system on an air line of words can now be demonstrated experimentally. One of the most common 'hallucinations' of subject during sense withdrawal is the feeling of another body sprawled through the subject's body at an angle... yes quite an angle it is the 'Other Half' worked quite some years on a symbiotic basis. From symbiosis to parasitism is a short step. The word is now a virus. The flu virus may have once been a healthy lung cell. It is now a parasitic organism that invades and damages the central nervous system. Modern man has lost the option of silence. Try halting sub-vocal speech. Try to achieve even ten seconds of inner silence. You will encounter a resisting organism that forces you to talk. That organism is the word.

“My body was flesh, which was only one step removed from shit, from clay, from dust.”
How to Save Your Own Life (1977)