a leopard cannot change its spots

English

Etymology

Ultimately from Jeremiah 13:23 of the King James Bible.[1]

Proverb

a leopard cannot change its spots

One cannot change one's own nature.
- 1597, William Shakespeare, Richard II Act i, Scene 1 (First Folio):
  King. Lyons make Leopards tame.
  Mowbray. Yea but not change his spots.
- 1611, King James Version of the Bible, Jeremiah 13:23:
  Can the Ethiopian change his skin, or the leopard his spots?
- 1820, Walter Scott, chapter 32, in Ivanhoe:
  End now all unkindness. Let us put the Jew to ransom, since the leopard will not change his spots, and a Jew he will continue to be.
- 1918, Johnston McCulley, Thubway Tham's Inthane Moment:
  The leopard cannot change his spots, old boy.

Synonyms

Antonyms

once an Eagle, always an Eagle

Translations

one cannot change one's own nature

Arabic: please add this translation if you can
Armenian: կարմիր կովը կաշին չի փոխի (karmir kovə kašin čʿi pʿoxi), (specifically of Turks) թուրքը մնում է թուրք (tʿurkʿə mnum ē tʿurkʿ)
Chinese:
Mandarin: (formal: "rivers and mountains change, but not one's nature") 江山易改，本性難移 (zh), 江山易改，本性难移 (zh) (jiāng shān yì gǎi, běn xìng nán yí), 狗改不了吃屎 (zh) (gǒu gǎi bù liǎo chī shǐ, literally “a dog can't help eating shit”)
Czech: starého psa novým kouskům nenaučíš, zvyk je železná košile
Danish: please add this translation if you can
Dutch: een vos verliest zijn streken niet
Esperanto: please add this translation if you can
Estonian: please add this translation if you can
Finnish: jäljistään jäniskin tunnetaan (literally “a hare is known by its tracks”)
French: chassez le naturel, il revient au galop (fr)
Georgian: please add this translation if you can
German: die Katze lässt das Mausen nicht (de)
Greek: ο λύκος κι αν εγέρασε κι άσπρισε το μαλλί του, μήτε τη γνώμη άλλαξε, μήτε την κεφαλή του (o lýkos ki an egérase ki ásprise to mallí tou, míte ti gnómi állaxe, míte tin kefalí tou, literally “Even though the wolf got old and his hair became white, he changed neither his opinion nor his head”) (about old age)
Hebrew: הֲיַהֲפֹךְ כּוּשִׁי עוֹרוֹ‎ (hayahafóch kúshi 'oró)
Hungarian: kutyából nem lesz szalonna (hu) (literally “out of a dog there will be no lard”)
Icelandic: please add this translation if you can
Ido: please add this translation if you can
Indonesian: please add this translation if you can
Irish: briseann an dúchas trí shúile an chait, is treise dúchas ná oiliúint
Italian: il lupo perde il pelo ma non il vizio (literally “the wolf can lose its fur but not its bad habits”), chi nasce tondo non può morire quadrato
Japanese: please add this translation if you can
Kannada: please add this translation if you can
Khmer: ខ្មែរមិនចោលក្បួន យួនមិនចោលពុត (kmae mɨn caol kbuən yuən mɨn caol put)

Korean: please add this translation if you can
Latin: please add this translation if you can
Lithuanian: please add this translation if you can
Macedonian: please add this translation if you can
Malay:
Jawi: ججق بوليه دهيلڠکن, بلڠ باݢايمان دهيلڠکن؟‎, روڤا بوليه دأوبه, طبيعة دباوا ماتي‎, ايکتن بوليه دأوبه, تاکوق باݢايمان دأوبه‎, سوکر اونتوق ملوروسکن ايکور انجيڠ‎, ايکور انجيڠ دلوروت, تيدق لوروس جوݢ‎

Rumi: jejak boleh dihilangkan, belang bagaimana dihilangkan?, rupa boleh diubah, tabiat dibawa mati, ikatan boleh diubah, takuk bagaimana diubah?, sukar untuk meluruskan ekor anjing, ekor anjing dilurut, tidak lurus juga, habis minyak sepasu, ekor anjing diurut tiada lurus
Maltese: please add this translation if you can
Persian: لا تبدیل لخلق الله‎ (lâ tabdila lexalqe-llah) (rare)
Polish: natura ciągnie wilka do lasu (pl)
Portuguese: o leopardo não pode mudar suas manchas, pode o etíope mudar a sua pele ou o leopardo as suas manchas?
Romanian: lupul părul va schimba, dar năravul ba.
Russian: волк ка́ждый год линя́ет, а всё сер быва́ет (ru) (volk káždyj god linjájet, a vsjó ser byvájet, literally “each year the wolf molts its fur, but it continues to be grey”), ско́лько во́лка ни корми́, он всё в лес смо́трит (skólʹko vólka ni kormí, on vsjó v les smótrit, literally “however good you feed the wolf, it still looks onto the forest”), горба́того моги́ла испра́вит (ru) (gorbátovo mogíla isprávit, literally “only the grave can straighten the hunchback”), чёрного кобеля́ не отмо́ешь добела́ (čórnovo kobeljá ne otmóješʹ dobelá, literally “you can’t wash a black dog to make it white”), зарека́лась лиса́ кур не ворова́ть (zarekálasʹ lisá kur ne vorovátʹ, literally “the fox promised not to steal chickens”)
Scottish Gaelic: an car a bha san t-seana mhaide 's duilich a thoirt às (literally “the twist which is in the old stick is difficult to take out”)
Serbo-Croatian: vuk dlaku mijenja, ali ćud nikada (literally “a wolf sheds his coat, but never his temper”)
Spanish: genio y figura hasta la sepultura (es), no hay que pedir peras al olmo, la cabra siempre tira al monte (es), quien nace lechón muere cochino
Swedish: please add this translation if you can
Tagalog: please add this translation if you can
Tibetan: please add this translation if you can
Turkish: please add this translation if you can
Ukrainian: Горбатого могила виправить (Horbatoho mohyla vypavyt')
Vietnamese: ngựa quen đường cũ (literally “the horse goes back to the old road”), giang sơn dễ đổi, bản tính khó dời (literally “nature changes, one's nature barely does”)
Welsh: a newidia y llewpard ei frychni?
Yiddish: אַ חזיר בלײַבט אַ חזיר‎ (a khazer blaybt a khazer, literally “a pig remains a pig”)

References

Bible (King James Version), London: Robert Barker, 1611, Jeremiah 13:23: “Can the Ethiopian change his skinne? or the leopard his spots?”.

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[1] Bible (King James Version), London: Robert Barker, 1611, Jeremiah 13:23: “Can the Ethiopian change his skinne? or the leopard his spots?”.