All that glitters is not gold is an old proverb that means simply because something is attractive or beautiful doesn’t mean that thing is valuable. Originally, the phrase was all that glisters is not gold and it is found in Shakespeare’s The Merchant of Venice. However, the sentiment that not all things that have the appearance of gold are actually gold was expressed by Geoffrey Chaucer in 1380 in his work The House of Fame, “Hit is not al gold, that glareth”. The origin of the metaphor that questions whether a shiny thing is gold actually goes back at least to the twelfth century, when French theologian Alain de Lille wrote “Do not hold everything gold that shines like gold”.
Examples
All that glitters is not gold and that’s true for the mining sector at the moment. (The Zimbabwe INdependent)
Just as all that glitters is not gold, however, not everyone views the work of Bush in Florida as being worthy of all its praise. (The Gadsden Messenger)
“All that glitters is not gold,” Santorum said with a sly smile Monday as he was asked repeated about Trump and his sudden success among Republicans trying to capture the White House nomination. (TIME Magazine)
The old saying, “all that glitters is not gold”, definitely applies to the accelerated depreciation claim available to small businesses for assets purchased costing less than $20,000 between May 12, 2015 and June 30, 2017. (The Sydney Morning Herald)
All that glitters is not gold, officials at the Perumbavur police station in Ernakulam rural district seem to have learnt it the hard way. (The Hindu)
I congratulate Donald Trump for his recent victories in Iowa and in New Hampshire, but I have an old adage which I need to share with him: All that glitters is not gold. (The Chicago Tribune)