kill the goose that lays the golden eggs

Idioms  

1. Destroy a source of riches through stupidity or greed, as in If he never gives his loyal customers a break on some items in his store, he'll kill the goose that lays the golden eggs. This expression, already a proverb in the late 1400s, alludes to Aesop's fable about a farmer whose goose lays one golden egg a day, and who kills the goose in the mistaken belief that he'll get all the eggs at once.

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

kill the goose that lays the golden eggs

“And we can kill the goose that lays the golden eggs in the process of overregulating.”

From New York Times ● Feb. 27, 2022

They don’t want to kill the goose that lays the golden eggs; they just want to own the roost.

From Slate ● Sep. 26, 2013

You don’t want to kill the goose that lays the golden eggs.

From Salon ● Jun. 1, 2013

They might kill the goose that lays the golden eggs because they can't figure out how to keep both it and themselves alive.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 11, 2012

"I am not so sure—the second time——" "They wouldn't kill the goose that lays the golden eggs," said Evan grimly.

From The Deaves Affair by Footner, Hulbert