all that glitters is not gold

English

Alternative forms

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

Etymology

Calque of Latin nōn omne quod nitet aurum est (“not all that shines is gold”). Popularized by William Shakespeare in The Merchant of Venice, see quotations.

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.
   • c. 1596–1598 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Merchant of Venice”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act II, scene vii], page 171, column 1:

     All that gliſters is not gold,
     Often haue you heard that told;

Synonyms

• you can't judge a book by its cover
• looks can be deceiving

Translations

things that appear valuable or worthwhile might not actually be so

• Arabic: لَيْسَ كُلُّ مَا يَلْمَعُ ذَهَبًا (laysa kullu mā yalmaʕu ḏahaban)
• Basque: distira guztiak ez dira urre
• Bavarian: ned ois wos glänzt is Goid
• Bengali: সব চকচক করলেই যে সোনা হয় না (śbo cokocok korlei je śōna hoẏ na)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 金玉其外，敗絮其中／金玉其外，败絮其中 (zh) (jīnyùqíwài, bàixùqízhōng), 虛有其表／虚有其表 (zh) (xūyǒuqíbiǎo)

• Czech: není všechno zlato, co se třpytí
• Danish: det er ikke alt guld som glimrer
• Dutch: het is niet alles goud wat er blinkt
• Esperanto: ne ĉio brilanta estas diamanto
• Faroese: ikki er alt gull, ið glitrar
• 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: ό,τι λάμπει δεν είναι χρυσός (el) (ó,ti lámpei den eínai chrysós)
• Hebrew: לא כל הנוצץ זהב הוא (he) (lo kol hanotzetz zahav hu)
• Hindi: हर चमकती चीज़ सोना नहीं होती (har camaktī cīz sonā nahī̃ hotī)
• Hungarian: nem mind arany, ami fénylik (hu)
• Icelandic: ekki er allt gull sem glóir (is)
• Italian: non è tutt'oro ciò che luccica, non è tutto oro quello che luccica
• Jamaican Creole: wah sweet nanny goat a guh run 'im belly
• Japanese: 光るものすべて金ならず (hikaru mono subete kin narazu)
• Korean: 빛나는 것이 모두 금 아니라 (binnaneun geosi modu geum anira)
• Latin: nōn omne quod nitet aurum est (la)
• Luxembourgish: et ass net alles Gold, wat blénkt
• Macedonian: сѐ што лета не се јаде (sè što leta ne se jade)
• Malay:

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

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

• Malayalam: മിന്നുന്നതെല്ലാം പൊന്നല്ല (minnunnatellāṁ ponnalla)
• Maltese: mhux kull ma jleqq hu deheb
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: det er ikke gull alt som glimrer (no)

  Nynorsk: det er ikkje gull alt som glimrar

• Polish: nie wszystko złoto, co się świeci (pl)
• Portuguese: nem tudo que reluz é ouro
• Romanian: nu tot ce strălucește este aur, nu tot ce lucește este aur, nu este aur tot ceea ce lucește
• Russian: не всё то зо́лото, что блести́т (ne vsjo to zóloto, što blestít)
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: није злато све што сија

  Roman: nije zlato sve što sija

• Slovene: ni vse zlato, kar se sveti (sl)
• Spanish: no es oro todo lo que reluce (es)
• Sranan Tongo: ala piri tifi a no lafu
• Swedish: allt är inte guld som glimmar (sv)
• Turkish: parlayan her şey altın değildir
• Urdu: ہر چمکتی چیز سونا نہیں ہوتی (har camaktī cīz sonā nahī̃ hotī)
• Welsh: nid aur yw popeth melyn (cy)

See also

• fool's gold
• bright shiny object

References

• Gregory Y. Titelman, Random House Dictionary of Popular Proverbs and Sayings, 1996, →ISBN, p. 9.

Further reading

• All that glitters is not gold on Wikipedia.Wikipedia