a leopard can't change its spots

One will stay true to one's nature, even if one pretends or claims otherwise. After our breakup, he came crawling back, trying to convince me that he'd changed, but I know that a leopard can't change its spots.

leopard cannot change his spots

Prov. One cannot change the basic way one is. Bill may say he'll stop being so jealous after Cindy marries him, but I doubt he will. A leopard can't change his spots.

leopard cannot change its spots, a

Also, the tiger cannot change its stripes. One can't change one's essential nature. For example, He's a conservative, no matter what he says; the leopard cannot change its spots. These metaphoric expressions both originated in an ancient Greek proverb that appears in the Bible (Jeremiah 13:23): "Can the Ethiopian change his skin, or the leopard his spots?" It was first recorded in English in 1546.

a leopard can't change his spots

people can't change their basic nature. proverb

a leopard cannot change its ˈspots

(saying) a person’s character does not change: A dictator is unlikely to become a good leader in a democracy. A leopard cannot change its spots.