[6] The popular form of the expression is a derivative of a line in William Shakespeare's play The Merchant of Venice, which employs the word "glisters," a 16th-century synonym for "glitters."
The line comes from a secondary plot of the play, in the scroll inside the golden casket the puzzle of Portia's boxes (Act II – Scene VII – Prince of Morocco):[7] All that glisters is not gold— Often have you heard that told.
[9] In 1747, Thomas Gray paraphrased the saying in his Ode on the Death of a Favourite Cat, Drowned in a Tub of Goldfishes, which finishes with the lines: Not all that tempts your wandering eyes And heedless hearts, is lawful prize; Nor all that glisters, gold".
The phrase is referenced with a reversal of the usual meaning in J. R. R. Tolkien's poem "The Riddle of Strider," originally written for The Fellowship of the Ring:[14] All that is gold does not glitter, Not all those who wander are lost; The old that is strong does not wither, Deep roots are not reached by the frost.
[14] Led Zeppelin reference the phrase in the opening line of their 1971 hit "Stairway to Heaven": "There's a lady who's sure all that glitters is gold."
[15] In the 1973 single "Get Up, Stand Up" by The Wailers, Bob Marley and Peter Tosh used the phrase in the first verse to reflect the themes of the song - namely the critiques of colonialism and Christianity, and their roles in creating a feeling of resignation among the African diaspora contrary to their values and beliefs:[16] Preacher man don't tell me heaven is under the earth, I know you don't know what life is really worth, It's not all that glitter is gold, Half the story has never been told, So now you see the light, Stand up for your right.
A deviation from the phrase can be found in the song "Posthuman" by Marilyn Manson, released on the 1998 album Mechanical Animals, whose lyrics include the line "All that glitters is cold.