Napoleon | The Sublime to the Ridiculous

From the sublime to the ridiculous is but a step.

Variant: There is only one step from the sublime to the ridiculous.

Napoleon said this during his retreat from Russia. On December 5, 1812, at Smorgoni, he left the remains of his straggling army under the command of his brother-in-law, Joachim Murat (who also soon abandoned the troops), and hurried ahead towards Paris. On December 10, his sleigh reached Warsaw, where he was greeted by France’s ambassador to Poland, the Abbé de Pradt. After a short meeting, Napoleon dismissed de Pradt, instructing him to return after dinner with two Polish politicians – Count Stanislas Potocki and the minister of finance. De Pradt recounts:

We rejoined him about three o’clock, he had just risen from table.

‘How long have I been at Warsaw? Eight days. No, only two hours,’ he said, laughing, without other preparation or preamble. ‘From the sublime to the ridiculous there is but one step. How do you find yourself, Monsieur Stanislas, and you, Sir, the Minister of Finance?’ To the repeated protests of these gentlemen of the satisfaction they felt at seeing him safe and well after so many dangers, [Napoleon said:] ‘Dangers! Not in the least. I live in the midst of agitation: the more I am crossed, the better I am. It is only sluggish kings who grow fat in their palaces: horseback and camps for me. From the sublime to the ridiculous there is but one step.’ It was clear that he saw himself pursued by the hissing of all Europe, which was to him the greatest possible punishment.

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