too much of a good thing

too much of a good thing idiom
Too large an amount of a beneficial or useful thing or activity can be harmful or excessive. For example, The indoor decorations are fine but the outdoor Santa, sled, reindeer, gnomes—it's just too much of a good thing. Expressed in slightly different form even earlier, Shakespeare used this precise wording in praise of moderation in As You Like It (4:1): “Can one desire too much of a good thing?”

The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer. Copyright © 2003, 1997 by The Christine Ammer 1992 Trust. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

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