竭泽而渔

竭澤而漁

jiézé'éryú

idiom #87,819

Meanings

1 to drain the pond to catch all the fish; to kill the goose that lays the golden eggs
2 to exhaust a resource for short-term gain

Characters

to exhaust; to drain

(classical conjunction) and so

Examples

过度开采就是竭泽而渔，终将毁掉整个行业。

Guòdù kāicǎi jiù shì jiézé'éryú, zhōng jiāng huǐ diào zhěnggè hángyè.

Over-mining is like draining the pond for fish — it will eventually ruin the entire industry.

对客户竭泽而渔的公司走不远。

Duì kèhù jiézé'éryú de gōngsī zǒu bù yuǎn.

Companies that squeeze every last drop from their customers won't last long.

Tips

history

From 《吕氏春秋·义赏》: 竭泽而渔，岂不获得？而明年无鱼 — 'drain the pond and you'll catch plenty; but there will be no fish next year.' Classical argument against short-sighted exploitation.

Stroke Order

竭 jié

泽 zé

而 ér

渔 yú