That's what you're told when, in the dense thickets of youth, you follow the sting instead of the honey, smash the reef to bits for that one imagined rarity of coral; kick the horse in the ribs or burn down the barn to keep them from falling into other hands. Take it as warning about consequence, which is shorthand for whatever was going to come next anyway. Take it as wisdom, or the bitter- nesss of those who've been there or just want to be vindicated.