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

“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 wouldn't kill the goose that lays the golden eggs.

From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 11, 2012

Don't let's kill the goose that lays the golden eggs.

From Hurricane Island by Watson, H. B. Marriott (Henry Brereton Marriott)