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. Teaching preschool is inherently pretty comical, but when a child gives you a big hug at the end of the day, it helps to take things from the ridiculous to the sublime. No, there's nothing that could take this utterly bizarre day from the ridiculous to the sublime!

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.