# What does ‘all that glitters is not gold’ mean?

To “all that glitters is not gold” means to appearances can deceive. Brewer's records the phrase from Shakespeare's The Merchant of Venice (II.vii); the sentiment is older, appearing in Chaucer.

## What it means

- Brewer's records the phrase from Shakespeare's The Merchant of Venice (II.vii); the sentiment is older, appearing in Chaucer.

## Action steps

1. Standard caution against surface appeal.
2. Example: The deal looks great, but all that glitters is not gold.

## Sources

- [Brewer's Dictionary of Phrase and Fable (1898) — Internet Archive scan](https://archive.org/details/brewers-dictionary-of-phrase-and-fable)

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