golden geese
Reliable wealth sources
Golden geese is the plural of golden goose, a reference to Aesop's fable about a goose that laid eggs of gold.
A golden goose is any source of continuing wealth or profit, especially one that requires patience rather than exploitation: The tech division became the company's golden goose.
The fable's moral—that greed destroys valuable resources—gives rise to the common warning not to kill the golden goose, meaning don't destroy something profitable by demanding too much from it too quickly.
- valuableWorth considerable money
- lucrativeYielding substantial profit
- easy moneyProfit gained effortlessly
- prosperityGood fortune, success
- cautionary taleStory illustrating consequences
fortunes · abundance · wealth · treasure · assets · fables · exploitation · Aesop · folklore · short-sightedness · short-term gain · greed · mythology · allegory · moral lesson · parable · profitability · eggs
golden geeseflash in the pan
Short-lived success
one-hit wonders · windfalls · finite resources · non-renewable resources · lottery winnings
golden geesemoney pits
Things requiring endless spending
white elephants · bottomless pits · liabilities · loss leaders · albatrosses
golden geeseburned bridges
Destroyed relationships permanently
scorched earth · short-term thinking · smash and grab · asset stripping
golden, geese, gold, goose, gild, gilded, gilding, gilder, goldsmith