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

You may indeed ruin us, if you will, but it were wise to remember that if you kill the goose that lays the golden eggs, there will be no more golden eggs to lay.”

From The Pirate City An Algerine Tale by Ballantyne, R. M. (Robert Michael)