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All that glitters is not gold

Posted by ESC on January 04, 2003

In Reply to: All that gliSters is not gold posted by TheFallen on January 04, 2003

: : Hi,
: : Can anyone give me the explanation of the following and what it means:
: : All that glitters is not gold.
: : Thanks
: : Best Regards.

: One of the most frequently misquoted phrases. The original phrase is "All that GLISTERS is not gold" and comes from Shakespeare's Merchant Of Venice. The majority of people now misuse it, replacing the archaic verb glister with the much more understandable glitter, and since the two mean near enough the same thing, one can see why.

: The phrase simply means that just because something may look valuable, desirable or attractive, it does NOT mean that it definitely will be worth having once you discover its true nature. So basically, don't rely on the superficial.

ALL THAT GLITTERS IS NOT GOLD - "The appearance of a thing or person can be deceptive. This proverb is similar to the L*tin: Non omne quod nitet aurum est. ('Not all that shines is gold.') The proverb was used by Chaucer (c. 1374-87), by Cervantes in 'Don Quixote' (1605-15), and by Shakespeare in 'The Merchant of Venice' in 1596. First attested in the United States in the 'Winthrop Papers' ." From Random House Dictionary of Popular Proverbs and Sayings by Gregory Y. Titelman (Random House, New York, 1996).

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