once an eagle, always an eagle

once an eagle, always an eagle

1. A person's true character never changes.
   • 1832, The London Spy (volume 2, page 292)

     Elliston was, in his day, the Napoleon of Drury Lane; but, like the conqueror at Austerlitz, he suffered his declensions, and the Surrey became to him a Saint Helena. However, once an eagle always an eagle; and Robert William was no less aquiline in the day of adversity than in his palmy time of patent prosperity.

   • 1968, LIFE (volume 65, number 13, page 19)

     Later Courtney comes to the Pacific and Damon must submit to his orders for a suicidal attack — orders based on a profound ignorance of actual field conditions and an especially profound desire for a press-worthy victory at any cost. But once an eagle always an eagle; by the end of the novel Damon is still slugging it out with Courtney […]