"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."