all that glitters is not gold

English

Alternative forms

• all that glisters is not gold (older form)
• all that glitters (shortened form)

Etymology

Translation of Latin nōn omne quod nitet aurum est (“not all that shines is gold”).

Proverb

all that glitters is not gold

1. Things that appear valuable or worthwhile might not actually be so; things that look nice might not be as good as they look.

Synonyms

• you can't tell a book by its cover

Translations

things that appear valuable or worthwhile might not actually be so

• Basque: distira guztiak ez dira urre
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 金玉其外，敗絮其中 (zh), 金玉其外，败絮其中 (jīnyù qí wài, bàixù qízhōng), simpl. 虚有其表

• Czech: není všechno zlato co se třpytí
• Danish: det er ikke alt guld, som skinner, de er ikke alle venner, som smiler
• Dutch: het is niet alles goud wat er blinkt
• Esperanto: ne ĉio brilanta estas diamanto
• Finnish: kaikki ei ole kultaa mikä kiiltää
• French: tout ce qui brille n’est pas or (fr)
• German: es ist nicht alles Gold, was glänzt (de)
• Greek: ότι λάμπει δεν είναι χρυσός (óti lámpei den eínai chrysós)
• Hebrew: לא כל הנוצץ זהב הוא (he) (lo kol hanotzetz zahav hu)
• Hungarian: nem mind arany, ami fénylik
• Icelandic: ekki er allt gull sem glóir (is)
• Italian: non è tutt'oro ciò che luccica

• Japanese: 光るものすべて金ならず (hikaru mono subete kin narazu)
• Latin: nōn omne quod nitet aurum est (la)
• Malay:

  Rumi: indah khabar daripada rupa, yang bercahaya bukan semuanya intan

  Jawi: اينده خبر درڤد روڤا, يڠ برچهاي بوکن سمواڽ اينتن

• Malayalam: മിന്നുന്നതെല്ലാം പൊന്നല്ല (minnunnathellaam ponnalla)
• Norwegian: det er ikke gull alt som glimrer (no)
• Polish: nie wszystko złoto, co się świeci (pl)
• Portuguese: nem tudo que reluz é ouro
• Russian: не всё то золото, что блестит (ru) (ne vsjo to zóloto, što blestít)
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: није злато све што сија

  Roman: nije zlato sve što sija

• Spanish: no es oro todo lo que reluce (es)
• Swedish: allt är inte guld som glimmar (sv)

See also

• fool's gold

References

• Gregory Y. Titelman, Random House Dictionary of Popular Proverbs and Sayings, 1996, ISBN 0-679-44554-4, p. 9.