When a resolute young fellow steps up to the great bully, the World, and takes him boldly by the beard, he is often surprised to find it comes off in his hand, and that it was only tied on to scare away the timid adventurers.

Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr. (1809-1894) American poet, essayist, scholar

Article (1860-01), “The Professor’s Story [Elsie Venner],” ch. 2, Atlantic Monthly, Vol. 5, No. 27
    (Source)

Originally serialized as “The Professor’s Story,” but collected as the novel Elsie Venner, ch. 2 (1861).

Often misattributed to Ralph Waldo Emerson.