if you can't be good, be careful
Proposed by a contributor, not yet supported by evidence.
Meaning · English
Behave responsibly if you cannot behave virtuously
Nghĩa · Tiếng Việt
Hành động có trách nhiệm nếu bạn không thể hành động có đức
Machine-translated — suggest a fix
Where it’s used:
Used
Widespread English
Sources & notes
Listed on Wikipedia “List of proverbial phrases” (CC BY-SA 4.0, retrieved 2026-07-29); definition pending editorial review. Definition drafted by AI (@cf/meta/llama-3.3-70b-instruct-fp8-fast) and auto-approved by rule on 2026-07-30; pending editor spot-check.
Common questions
What does “if you can't be good, be careful” mean?
Behave responsibly if you cannot behave virtuously
Is “if you can't be good, be careful” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.