A fly, Sir, may sting a stately horse and make him wince; but one is but an insect, and the other is a horse still.
samuel johnson...poets are sensitive to the challenge 'What is the moral justification of poetry?' because they are conscious of the intrinsic goodness of poetry. Goody-goody humanitarian causes draw them easily into membership by making them wince at the notion of all the injustices prevalent in the world of physical consciousness. Let it be declared as clearly as possible that the goodness of poetry is not moral goodness, the goodness of temporal action, but the goodness of thought, the loving exercise of the will in the pursuit of truth.
laura ridingAnd so the blasts of calumny, howl they ever so fiercely over the good man's head, contribute to his juster appreciation and to his wider fame. Preserve only a good conscience toward God, and a loving purpose toward your fellow men, and you need not wince nor tremble, though the pack of the spaniel-hearted hounds snarl at your heels.
A fly, Sir, may sting a stately horse and make him wince; but one is but an insect, and the other is a horse still.
When I read it, I don't wince, which is all I ever ask for a book I write.
norman mailerIt's the kind of movie where you ask people how they liked it, and they say, "Well, it was well made," and then they wince.
roger ebertThis will make widows wince. But fictive things Wink as they will. Wink most when widows wince.
wallace stevens