debate writing all that glitter is not gold
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Answer:
The saying ‘all that glitters is not gold’ means that everything that has a shiny and attractive exterior may not be good in the inside too. It says that the appearance of something cannot determine its real character. It may be glittery as gold but it may not necessarily be as precious.
All that Glitters is not Gold – A Lesson for Life
My grandfather often uses the phrase, ‘all that glitters is not gold’. He uses it to warn us against several things. As a little kid, I was often attracted towards eye-catching things. I couldn’t think and analyze whether those things were actually useful for me or not. I also did not have a sense of whether they were right for me or not. Besides, I never really understood whether they were worth the amount being paid.
I wanted to purchase every toy that appealed to my eye without caring about whether it was useful for my age or not. However, I was often disappointed later as most of these toys didn’t turn out the way I expected them too. These were mostly wrapped in beautiful packing but as I opened them, there was hardly much material to play with. Often times, they were not even of my interest.
Seeing me disappointed with my newly bought toy, my grandfather once sat with me and explained a useful concept at length mentioning the phrase ‘all that glitters is not gold’. He told me that market is flooded with numerous things and most of these are covered with fancy exteriors in order to lure the customers and increase sale. We cannot bring home everything that appeals to us as not everything is useful to us and not everything is worth purchasing. We need to check its utility and also assess whether we really need it or not before opting for it instead to just purchasing it for its face value.
He also explained that this holds good even for people and relationships. In life, we may meet many people. It is natural for us to get attracted to those who are beautiful and dress up nicely however we need to understand that these people may not necessarily be good at heart. So, before making friends and other relationships, we must observe the person properly to avoid getting hurt later.
The phrase, ‘all that glitters is not gold’ is a warning and a lesson that everyone should learn. A person who understands it is likely to take wiser decisions in life.
Fable Related to the Phrase
There are many moral stories and fables that echo similar thoughts as the saying, ‘all that glitters is not gold’. One such popular fable is that of two friends, Anil and Sunil.
The two friends lived in a village. It was for the first time that they were travelling to the city. They were all quite excited about their trip. They had planned to visit many places within the city and do a lot of shopping. Anil especially wanted to purchase a watch. He had been saving for it since a long time. He was discussing about his plan of purchasing a watch from the city with his friend just when the passenger sitting next to them overheard their conversation.
He took out two sparkling watches from his bag and showed it to the two friends. Anil was enticed by the beauty of those watches. He decided to purchase one of them at once. However, Sunil was a bit sceptic about his decision. He could not trust the man selling the watches as he said that the glistening strap of those watches was made of gold. He charged heavily for the watches.
Sunil warned Anil not to purchase the watch from the man as he suspected he was lying. However, Anil was so attracted to the beauty of the watch that he did not listen to Sunil. He happily handed a large sum of money to the stranger in exchange for a watch.
Few days later, the watch stopped working. Anil took it to the nearby shop to get it repaired. It was then that he learned that his watch was made of an ordinary material that only sparkled like gold but was not precious at all. He realized that all his money had gone down the drain and felt extremely disappointed. He regretted taking hasty decision even after being warned by Sunil.
Since then, Anil took all the decisions very cautiously after assessing all the pros and cons. This is how each one of us should act in life as ‘all that glitters is not gold’.
Answer:
All that glitters is not gold
The proverb "all that glitters is not gold" teaches us that something which appears beneficial, beautiful and valuable may turn out to be not so. The proverb is believed to have been first used by William Shakespeare in the play "The Merchant of Venice".
Not everything that is shiny and beautiful is valuable. Their attractiveness is superficially and of no value. Gold is a precious metal and is rare. Gold very expensive but a metal which looks like gold may turn out to be worthless. There are many things around us which can deceive us by their beautiful appearance. There are people whose oratory skill and appearance can fool us. This proverb tells us not to be deceived by outward looks. A person may look innocent, truthful and reliable but they may not be who they appear to be. A well dressed person does not mean that he or she has a good character and good moral values. It does not mean that the person is kind, loving, thoughtful and generous. It does not mean that the person is honest and trustworthy. The value of a person lies in his good virtues and abilities and not his external appearance.
The proverb "all that glitters is not gold" expresses the wisdom that the attractive external appearance of something or someone is not a reliable indication of its true nature. Appearance can be greatly misleading and we must be careful not trust everything we see. To assume something as precious or valuable on the basis of mere appearance is unwise.