burn one's bridges 

To leave all of your friends and acquaintances behind; to cause permanent damage in your relationships.

The idea is that there people who form bridges to your past. If you forget or insult them, you have burned all of your bridges to the past, and can never go back.

1) Even though you're quitting your job tomorrow, try not to burn one's bridges. You never know when you'll need help in the future.

2) There may be a conflict of interest if I work with both companies. Of course I don't want to burn one's bridges, so I should choose one company and let the other know that I can't work with them.

burn one's bridges by silverbridge2000 November 23, 2006