Where a man feels pain he lays his hand.

The proverb points to an instinctive human tendency: attention gravitates toward pain. On the surface it describes a bodily reflex—touching the place that hurts—but it also works metaphorically. People often return to what wounds them: they revisit injuries, fixate on insults, or probe emotional sore spots, sometimes seeking relief and sometimes aggravating the hurt. The line can therefore be read as both descriptive and cautionary. It recognizes that pain demands acknowledgment, yet it also hints that repeated “touching” of a wound—rumination, self-pity, or obsession—may prevent healing. In social settings it can explain why sensitive topics quickly draw defensive reactions.