I first heard this rule for life in my college fraternity days. One of my older and wiser fraternity brothers said this to just about everyone. I had largely forgotten about it until my kids grew up a bit.
When the kids were young enough to appreciate directives from their father I would often tell them how important it is to be careful. Sometimes this was directed to them as they were walking by a hot stove or about to run into something. Both of them had an unfortunate habit of looking at me behind them while they wolked straight ahead and directly into something.
As they aged, I came to the conclusion that there was little or no hope in having them be careful just because I requested it. I harkened back to my college days and immediately understood the wisdom in Rule 5. If you give someone a choice (especially one who incorrectly believes he or she is a responsible adult) they are much more likely to exercise at least one of the choices then just to go off and ignore the advice altogether. Giving a college student a choice to be good or be careful significantly increases the chance that they will do at least one of those things. With the propensity of college students to misbehave, there really is no point in insisting that they be good.
How does Rule 5 apply to life outside of college? There really is not anyone who can be good all the time or at least I have not found that person yet. So in those moments when each of us is not being good, we need to exercuise caution and protect ourselves from disaster.
I hate to take all of my examples from the gambling world but it seems to teach some important lessons. There are those that would argue that gambling is not being good. One could certainly argue that point but there are several things one can do when gambling to be careful so that, if gambling is indeed being bad, one can still be using Rule 5. For example, one should never gamble unless one completely understands the game and knows how to gain an advantage over the house or the other player. One should never drink and gamble at the same time. Even those of us with rational judgment about gambling will do poorly after too many drinks. One should gamble in a way that is intended to maximize ones chances of winning rather than in a way that feels right at any moment in time. Rule 6's teaching that one should never mess up a 20 in Blackjack is a classic example of how to apply this rule in a specific card game. Using Texas Hold 'Em Power Plays is another great way to gamble (be bad) and still be careful at the same time.
If you can't be good, be careful.
