--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: From the sublime to the ridiculous there…" description: "\"“From the sublime to the ridiculous there is but one step.”\" — William Hazlitt" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/78f/william-hazlitt-326_absurdity_from-the-sublime-to-the-ridiculous-there_1982707.png" --- # From the sublime to the ridiculous there is but one step. ![“From the sublime to the ridiculous there is but one step.” quote by William Hazlitt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/78f/william-hazlitt-326_absurdity_from-the-sublime-to-the-ridiculous-there_1982707.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/78f/william-hazlitt-326_absurdity_from-the-sublime-to-the-ridiculous-there_1982707.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/78f/william-hazlitt-326_absurdity_from-the-sublime-to-the-ridiculous-there_1982707.png) > ““From the sublime to the ridiculous there is but one step.”” [William Hazlitt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-hazlitt/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. A small shift can turn something awe‑inspiring into something absurd. **In simple terms:** Minor changes can flip greatness to silliness. Key Takeaway Watch for subtle shifts that alter perception. Themes aesthetics humor perception Mood reflective amused Type philosophical literary When to use this quote - art criticism - literary analysis - everyday humor Key Concepts sublimity ridiculousness Questions to Reflect On - What changes turn something sublime into the ridiculous? - Can we control the shift? A Different Perspective The line between awe and absurdity is often subjective. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Absurdity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/absurdity/) [Nature of Beauty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nature-of-beauty/) [Sublime](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sublime/) ## Related quotes > [There's only a step from the sublime to the ridiculous, but there's no road leading from the ridiculous to the sublime.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lion-feuchtwanger/there-s-only-a-step-from-the-sublime-to-the-ridiculous-but-there-s-no/) [Lion Feuchtwanger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lion-feuchtwanger/) > [For me, the cooking life has been a long love affair, with moments both sublime and ridiculous.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthony-bourdain/for-me-the-cooking-life-has-been-a-long-love-affair-with-moments-both/) [Anthony Bourdain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anthony-bourdain/) > [The sublime and the ridiculous are often so nearly related, that it is difficult to class them separately. One step above the sublime makes…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-paine/the-sublime-and-the-ridiculous-are-often-so-nearly-related-that-it-is/) [Thomas Paine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-paine/) > [The sublime is only a step removed from the ridiculous.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/theodor-adorno/the-sublime-is-only-a-step-removed-from-the-ridiculous/) [Theodor Adorno](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/theodor-adorno/) > [“Give me the ridiculous, because it's a gateway to the sublime.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeff-mach/give-me-the-ridiculous-because-it-s-a-gateway-to-the-sublime/) Jeff Mach > [When authors and critics talk of the sublime, they see not how nearly it borders on the ridiculous.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-paine/when-authors-and-critics-talk-of-the-sublime-they-see-not-how-nearly/) [Thomas Paine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-paine/) > [Only by chancing the ridiculous, can I hope for the sublime.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jay-defeo/only-by-chancing-the-ridiculous-can-i-hope-for-the-sublime/) Jay DeFeo > [There is only one step from the sublime to the ridiculous.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/napoleon-bonaparte/there-is-only-one-step-from-the-sublime-to-the-ridiculous/) [Napoleon Bonaparte](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/napoleon-bonaparte/) > [Space doesn't just encompass the sublime and the ridiculous. It erases the line between.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-roach/space-doesn-t-just-encompass-the-sublime-and-the-ridiculous-it-erases/) [Mary Roach](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-roach/) > [“When we travel, we aim for the sublime. 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The gospel alone has exhibited a complete assemblage of the principles of morality, divested of all absurdity. It…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/napoleon-bonaparte/all-systems-of-morality-are-fine-the-gospel-alone-has-exhibited-a/) [Napoleon Bonaparte](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/napoleon-bonaparte/) > [Crude absurdities, trivial nonsense, and sublime truths are equally potent in readying people for self-sacrifice if they are accepted as the sole, eternal truth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-hoffer/crude-absurdities-trivial-nonsense-and-sublime-truths-are-equally/) [Eric Hoffer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-hoffer/) ## More by William Hazlitt > [First impressions are often the truest, as we find (not infrequently) to our cost, when we have been wheedled out of them by plausible…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-hazlitt/first-impressions-are-often-the-truest-as-we-find-not-infrequently-to/) [William Hazlitt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-hazlitt/) > [The art of life is to know how to enjoy a little and to endure very much.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-hazlitt/the-art-of-life-is-to-know-how-to-enjoy-a-little-and-to-endure-very/) [William Hazlitt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-hazlitt/) > [We are thankful for good-will rather than for services, for the motive than the quantum of favor received.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-hazlitt/we-are-thankful-for-good-will-rather-than-for-services-for-the-motive/) [William Hazlitt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-hazlitt/) > [The discussing the characters and foibles of common friends is a great sweetness and cement of friendship.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-hazlitt/the-discussing-the-characters-and-foibles-of-common-friends-is-a/) [William Hazlitt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-hazlitt/) > [Want of principle is power. Truth and honesty set a limit to our efforts, which impudence and hypocrisy easily overleap.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-hazlitt/want-of-principle-is-power-truth-and-honesty-set-a-limit-to-our/) [William Hazlitt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-hazlitt/) > [Repose is as necessary in conversation as in a picture.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-hazlitt/repose-is-as-necessary-in-conversation-as-in-a-picture/) [William Hazlitt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-hazlitt/) > [No act terminating in itself constitutes greatness.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-hazlitt/no-act-terminating-in-itself-constitutes-greatness/) [William Hazlitt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-hazlitt/) > [Vice is man's nature: virtue is a habit--or a mask.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-hazlitt/vice-is-man-s-nature-virtue-is-a-habit-or-a-mask/) [William Hazlitt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-hazlitt/) > [We never do anything well till we cease to think about the manner doing it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-hazlitt/we-never-do-anything-well-till-we-cease-to-think-about-the-manner/) [William Hazlitt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-hazlitt/) > [Man is the only animal that laughs and weeps; for he is the only animal that is struck with the difference between what things…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-hazlitt/man-is-the-only-animal-that-laughs-and-weeps-for-he-is-the-only/) [William Hazlitt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-hazlitt/) > [Those who have had none of the cares of this life to harass and disturb them, have been obliged to have recourse to the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-hazlitt/those-who-have-had-none-of-the-cares-of-this-life-to-harass-and/) [William Hazlitt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-hazlitt/) > [Poverty, when it is voluntary, is never despicable, but takes an heroical aspect.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-hazlitt/poverty-when-it-is-voluntary-is-never-despicable-but-takes-an/) [William Hazlitt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-hazlitt/) > [We are not satisfied to be right, unless we can prove others to be quite wrong.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-hazlitt/we-are-not-satisfied-to-be-right-unless-we-can-prove-others-to-be/) [William Hazlitt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-hazlitt/) > [The world judge of men by their ability in their profession, and we judge of ourselves by the same test: for it is on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-hazlitt/the-world-judge-of-men-by-their-ability-in-their-profession-and-we/) [William Hazlitt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-hazlitt/) > [The best part of our lives we pass in counting on what is to come.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-hazlitt/the-best-part-of-our-lives-we-pass-in-counting-on-what-is-to-come/) [William Hazlitt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-hazlitt/) [Explore all 671 William Hazlitt quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-hazlitt/) ## More Absurdity quotes > [Even though you can't expect to defeat the absurdity of the world, you must make that attempt. That's morality, that's religion. That's art. That's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/phil-ochs/even-though-you-can-t-expect-to-defeat-the-absurdity-of-the-world-you/) [Phil Ochs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/phil-ochs/) > [The inner defenses are unconscious. They consist of a kind of magic aura which the mind builds around cherished belief. Arguments which penetrate into…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-koestler/the-inner-defenses-are-unconscious-they-consist-of-a-kind-of-magic/) [Arthur Koestler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-koestler/) > [For it is an absurdity to call a country civilized in which a decent and industrious man, laboriously mastering a trade which is valuble…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-l-mencken/for-it-is-an-absurdity-to-call-a-country-civilized-in-which-a-decent/) [H. L. Mencken](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/h-l-mencken/) > [Every sensible man, every honorable man, must hold the Christian sect in horror." 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It comes from an absurdity around that misery.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/simon-amstell/i-ve-always-felt-that-comedy-doesn-t-just-come-from-misery-it-comes/) [Simon Amstell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/simon-amstell/) > [Unaware of the absurdity of it, we introduce our own petty household rules into the economy of the universe for which the life of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexander-herzen/unaware-of-the-absurdity-of-it-we-introduce-our-own-petty-household/) [Alexander Herzen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexander-herzen/) > [“Christianity would be helpless without the idea of free will and the idea of free will would be helpless without incongruity.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kedar-joshi/christianity-would-be-helpless-without-the-idea-of-free-will-and-the/) [Kedar Joshi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kedar-joshi/) > [Sensible Catholics have for generations been ignoring the views on contraception held by reactionary old men in the Vatican, but alas, since it is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/a-c-grayling/sensible-catholics-have-for-generations-been-ignoring-the-views-on/) [A.C. 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