If you can't be good, be careful.

If you can't be good, be careful.
If you can't be good, be careful.
Prov. If you are going to do immoral things, make sure they are not dangerous.; If you are going to do something immoral, make sure to keep it secret. (Sometimes used as a flippant way of saying good-bye.) •

Be a good girl on your vacation trip. Or if you can't be good, be careful.

Ernest likes to close his letters with, “If you can't be good, be careful.”


Dictionary of American idioms. 2013.

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