All That Glitters Are Not Gold Essay

All that glitters is not gold is a well-known saying, meaning that not everything that looks precious or true turns out to be so. This can return to persons, places, or things that promise to be more than they really are. The expression, in various forms, originated in or before the 12th century1 and may date back to Aesop.2 Chaucer gave cardinal early versions in English But all thing which that schyneth as the gold / Ne is no gold, as I have herd it told, and Hyt is not al golde that glareth. The popular form of the expression is a derivative of a line in William Shakespeares play The Merchant of Venice, which employs the word glisters, a 17th-century synonym for glitters. The line comes from a secondary plot of the play, the puzzle of Portias boxes (Act II Scene VII Prince of Morocco)All that glisters is not goldOften have you hear that toldMany a man his life hath soldBut my outside to beholdGilded tombs do worms enfold.Had you been as wise as bold,Young in limbs, in judgemen t oldYour answer had not been inscrolldFare you well, your suit is cold.Panning for gold often results in finding pyrite, nicknamed fools gold, which reflects considerably more light than authentic gold does. Gold in its raw form appears dull and does not glitter. Not all that glitters is gold is an alternative formulation.345 The opposition of this expression, All that glitters is gold, is a lyric in the Led Zeppelin song, Stairway to Heaven, the Smash Mouth song, All Star and theDeath in Vegas song, All That Glitters. It is likewise used as lyrics in the song A Guided Masquerade by Alesana. A variation of the saying is used in Kid Cudis song Pursuit of Happiness, in which it goes Im on the pursuit of happiness and I know everything that shine aint eer gonna be gold.