from The Art of Worldly Wisdom Don’t show your wounded finger. cxlv Do not show your injured finger.
Because malice is always directed at weakness where it can hurt. For malice always seeks to wound weakness. Malice looks for wounds to irritate, shoots arrows to test the temper, and tries a thousand ways to stab quickly. The wise man never admits that he has been beaten, and never reveals any wrongdoing, whether personal or hereditary. Even fate sometimes likes to hurt us in our most tender places. Wounded flesh always dies. Therefore, if you wish the one to cease and the other to sustain, never reveal the cause of pain or pleasure.
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