There is only one step from the sublime to the ridiculous.
Du sublime au ridicule il n'y a qu'un pas.
Original text (French)
More quotes by Napoleon
I never was truly my own master but was always ruled by circumstances.
The greater the man, the less is he opinionative, he depends upon events and circumstances.
Sometimes a great example is necessary to all the public functionaries of the state.
Attribution
Quote text and notes from Wikiquote: Napoleon (page history), available under CC BY-SA 4.0. Source quality and labels are our own summary of what Wikiquote records.