Take the bull by the horns

Wordsworth has a system which disposes him to take the bull by the horns and offend public taste.

"Then why couldn' ye take the bull by the horns an' march in by the front door?"

[H]e was ready to take the bull by the horns and pay for his meal himself.

In Korea General MacArthur took the bull by the horns and threw seven divisions into an all-out drive to clear North Korea.

"Should I tell her? Should I send someone else?" he said yesterday. "I took the bull by the horns. I gave her the diagnosis. It was the most difficult time of my life."