ProverbHuman Nature
Italian origin
Italian originIl lupo perde il pelo ma non il vizio
Meaning: People may change their appearance, but not their nature.
Literally: The wolf loses its fur but not its vice
Example: “Ha promesso di non giocare più d'azzardo, ma il lupo perde il pelo ma non il vizio.” — He promised to stop gambling, but a leopard can't change its spots.
Equivalents in English, French, Spanish, German, Dutch, and 5 more languages
English: The wolf changes his coat but not his character
French: Le loup change de poil, non de naturel (literally: The wolf changes its coat, not its nature)
Spanish: Genio y figura hasta la sepultura (literally: Character and form until the grave)
German: Die Katze lässt das Mausen nicht (literally: The cat will not give up catching mice)
Dutch: Een vos verliest wel zijn haren, maar niet zijn streken (literally: A fox loses its hair but not its tricks)
Russian: Горбатого могила исправит (Gorbatogo mogila ispravit) (literally: Only the grave will straighten a hunchback)
Polish: Natura ciągnie wilka do lasu (literally: Nature pulls the wolf to the forest)
Chinese: 江山易改，本性难移 (Jiāngshān yì gǎi, běnxìng nán yí) (literally: Rivers and mountains change easily; nature hardly)
Arabic: الطبع يغلب التطبع (Aṭ-ṭabʿ yaghlib at-taṭabbuʿ) (literally: Nature beats nurture)
Turkish: Huylu huyundan vazgeçmez (literally: A person of habit won't give up his habit)
Origin: Suetonius tells that a herdsman once said it of the emperor Vespasian, in Latin and about a fox: vulpem pilum mutare, non mores, the fox changes its fur but not its habits.
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