All that glitters is not gold

File:Pyrit 01.jpg

Upon first glance, pyrite (fool’s gold) appears to be gold

"All that glitters is not gold" is an aphorism stating that not everything that looks precious or true turns out to be so.

While early expressions of the idea are known from at least the 12th–13th century, the current saying is derived from a 16th-century line by William Shakespeare, "All that glisters is not gold".

Origins

The expression, in various forms, originated in or before the 12th century and may date back to Æsop. The Latin is Non omne quod nitet aurum est. The French monk Alain de Lille wrote "Do not hold everything gold that shines like gold" in 1175.

Chaucer gave two early versions in English: "But al thyng which that shyneth as the gold / Nis nat gold, as that I have herd it told" in "The Canon's Yeoman's Tale", and "Hyt is not al golde that glareth" in "The House of Fame". John Heywood, writing a compilation of proverbial wisdom in 1546, included a line, "All is not golde that glisters by tolde tales".

The popular form of the expression is a derivative of a line in William Shakespeare's play The Merchant of Venice, which employs the word "glisters," a 16th-century synonym for "glitters." The line comes from a secondary plot of the play, in the scroll inside the golden casket the puzzle of Portia's boxes (Act II – Scene VII – Prince of Morocco):

All that glisters is not gold—
Often have you heard that told.
Many a man his life hath sold
But my outside to behold.
Gilded tombs do worms enfold.
Had you been as wise as bold,
Young in limbs, in judgment old,
Your answer had not been inscrolled
Fare you well. Your suit is cold—

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Glitters or glisters

The original version of the saying used the word glisters, though it is often taken as the similar and synonymous glitters. The poet John Dryden used glitter in his 1687 poem The Hind and the Panther.

Arthur Golding, in his 1577 English translation of John Calvin's sermons on the Epistle to the Ephesians, used the phrase "But al is not gold that glistereth" in sermon 15.

In 1747, Thomas Gray paraphrased the saying in his Ode on the Death of a Favourite Cat, Drowned in a Tub of Goldfishes, which finishes with the lines:

Not all that tempts your wandering eyes

And heedless hearts, is lawful prize;

Nor all that glisters, gold".

In popular culture

Early uses

In H.M.S Pinafore, an 1878 comic opera by Gilbert and Sullivan, the phrase appears as "all that glitters is not gold."

In 1901, the sheet music publishers M. Witmark & Sons released "All That Glitters Is Not Gold," featuring words by George A. Norton and music by James W. Casey. Despite the title, the first reference in the lyrics is "all is not gold that glitters." The song is perhaps best remembered today for its inclusion in Bowery Bugs (1949), a Bugs Bunny cartoon based on the story of the Brooklyn Bridge jump claimant Steve Brodie.

In 1946, a different song, also by the name "All That Glitters Is Not Gold," was released by Decca Records. That song was written by Alice Cornett, Eddie Asherman, and Lee Kuhn, and recorded by Jimmy Dorsey and his orchestra. The song was subsequently covered by several other artists.

Tolkien

The phrase is referenced with a reversal of the usual meaning in J. R. R. Tolkien's poem "The Riddle of Strider," originally written for The Fellowship of the Ring:

The poem emphasizes that sometimes gold is hidden or mistaken for something else, as opposed to gaudy facades being mistaken for real gold. Strider, secretly the rightful king of Gondor, appears to be a mere Ranger. Both Tolkien's phrase and the original ask the reader to look beneath the skin, rather than judging on outward appearance.

Popular music

Led Zeppelin reference the phrase in the opening line of their 1971 hit "Stairway to Heaven": "There's a lady who's sure all that glitters is gold."

Neil Young used the phrase in his song "Don't Be Denied" ("Well, all that glitters isn't gold/I know you've heard that story told"), from his 1973 album Time Fades Away, to express his "realization that even success wouldn't make him happy," even after he obtained fame and money.

In the 1973 single "Get Up, Stand Up" by The Wailers, Bob Marley and Peter Tosh used the phrase in the first verse to reflect the themes of the song - namely the critiques of colonialism and Christianity, and their roles in creating a feeling of resignation among the African diaspora contrary to their values and beliefs:

Dan Seals released a 1986 single "Everything That Glitters (Is Not Gold)," co-written by Bob McDill. The song contrasts the fashion and fame of a rodeo queen against their treatment of their family.

The 1995 song "Gold" by Prince has the refrain "All that glitters ain't gold."

A deviation from the phrase can be found in the song "Posthuman" by Marilyn Manson, released on the 1998 album Mechanical Animals, whose lyrics include the line "All that glitters is cold."

Rock band Smash Mouth used the version, "All that glitters is gold", in their 1999 song, "All Star."

Kanye West also used the saying in his 2004 song "Family Business."

Rock band Biffy Clyro also use the saying in the lyrics to their 2013 single Biblical: "I know how it looks but all that glitters ain't gold."

The song "The House Always Wins" by The Stupendium includes "All that glitters isn't golden" in its refrain.

Progressive rock band Karmakanic released a song called "All That Glitters Is Not Gold" on their album Transmutation in 2025.

See also

• "Gods of the Copybook Headings" – a poem reflecting on eternal truths amid human pretensions, by Rudyard Kipling
• "Things Are Seldom What They Seem" – song in Gilbert and Sullivan's HMS Pinafore, where Little Buttercup alludes to Captain Corcoran's low birth by singing of things that may appear as one thing whilst being another, including the line "All that glitters is not gold".
• "Ode on the Death of a Favourite Cat, Drowned in a Tub of Gold Fishes" – poem by Thomas Gray which ends "Nor all, that glisters, gold"

External links

• Context of Shakespeare's quote at enotes.com