get out while the getting's good
verb1
Colloquial To leave at an opportune time or before adverse conditions arise.
- Take your choice; get out while the getting's good, or we'll boom Glad-hand by starting a Boot Hill right here." A Boot Hill! Grinch reflected.1912, Sarah Comstock, The soddy, page 200:
2
Colloquial, Idiomatic To sell all or part of one's holdings in stocks, real estate, a business, etc. while conditions are good, particularly in anticipation of a drop in prices.
- It costs pretty near as much to sell a used truck as a new one and there is usually ... close down business right away and get out while the getting's good.1924, “When You Put Through a Sale Without a Profit for Yourself Do You Call it a Sale?”, in James Artman, editor, The Commercial car journal, volume 28, page 9:
- Synonyms
- quit while one is ahead, 23 skidoo