from the ridiculous to the sublime

from the ridiculous to the sublime

From something silly, foolish, or absurd to something exceptional or beautiful. Less common than "from the sublime to the ridiculous." I was pleasantly surprised by the ending to that play—it really took things from the ridiculous to the sublime.
See also: ridiculous, sublime
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms.

ridiculous to the sublime, from the

There is surprisingly little difference between the wonderful and the extremely silly. The expression linking “ridiculous” and “sublime” originated with Tom Paine in The Age of Reason (1794): “The sublime and the ridiculous are often so nearly related that it is difficult to class them separately. One step above the sublime makes the ridiculous, and one step above the ridiculous makes the sublime again.” Napoleon, who admired Paine, repeated it in French about 1812; his version was translated as “From the sublime to the ridiculous there is only one step.” The two qualities have been paired in this way ever since.
See also: ridiculous
The Dictionary of Clichés by Christine Ammer
See also:
  • a slue of (something)
  • a/the feel of (something)
  • (I) wouldn't (do something) if I were you
  • a straw will show which way the wind blows
  • a crack at (someone or something)
  • all right
  • (you) wanna make something of it?
  • all for the best
  • a thing of the past
  • a slew of (something)
References in periodicals archive
Dubai: The graph of Pakistan's performance in the ongoing Test series against New Zealand -- to take some liberties with the phrase -- has gone from the ridiculous to the sublime. In a space of less than a week, Sarfraz Ahmad's men dusted off their demoralising defeat in the first Test in Abu Dhabi to bounce back with an innings victory on Tuesday.
From there, he went from the ridiculous to the sublime and scored what I believe is the greatest goal of all time.
6 A SINGLE MAN (2009) FROM the ridiculous to the sublime. Fashion-designer Tom Ford's directorial debut is the tale of a depressed college professor (Firth) in early 60s California, who is resigned to commiting suicide following the death of his gay partner.
Likelihood of getting new deal: 50/50 Yoan Gouffran (contract expires June 30) FROM the ridiculous to the sublime - that hs been the story of Gouffran's last six months Tyneside.
Q9 If you ask 2,800 people who you think Boro should sign you are going to get a wide range of answers from the ridiculous to the sublime. To give you a flavour of the answers here's a word cloud: the larger the font size the more frequently they were names.
And now, from the ridiculous to the sublime. About two weeks ago I received an e-mail from a stargazer.
And now, from the ridiculous to the sublime even more ridiculous, we announce this edition's winner of the Google Translate Award - best press release category."VALGRINE putter own a novel marriage of craft master, high technology and high technical French jewelry.
From the ridiculous to the sublime as us lot at 7DAYS are still to be found waxing our ears and scratching our heads while asking: "Did he really say that?" We are of course talking about David Moyes' suggestion that all Premier League players and coaches take a 20 per cent pay cut.
Blackburn were close to opening up a four-goal margin in the 52nd minute with a move from the ridiculous to the sublime.
Women's windfall From the ridiculous to the sublime - Hills are getting into the spirit of the women's World Cup by standing a number of bets and guaranteeing the winnings to the Women's Sport and Fitness Foundation (WSFF).
"It follows my crazy interests from the ridiculous to the sublime," he says of the show.
But it was Pires' contribution that epitomised Villa's January transformation from the ridiculous to the sublime with the former Arsenal legend departing to what seemed suspiciously like a standing ovation on 68 minutes.
The Bluebirds lie in second ahead of today's cup break and for Parkin it is case of "from the ridiculous to the sublime" in league terms after leaving a Preston side rooted to the foot of the table.
From the ridiculous to the sublime now - and one Barca player who has already lit up the tournament for me is Lionel Messi (right).
I can't help but think his arrival as interim boss replacing Jim Gannon is a case of going from the ridiculous to the sublime. Jim seemed to feel antipathy toward refs during his time in Scotland and his views are the polar opposite of Craig's.