A crow is never the whiter for washing herself often. 
Proverbs on a similar topic
- Old habits die hard.
- Nature will have its course.
- That which is crooked cannot be made straight.
- As a man lives, so shall he die, as a tree falls, so shall it lie.
- An ape is ne'er so like an ape, as when he wears a doctor's cape.
- The ass loaded with gold Still eats thistles.
- What good can it do an ass to be called a lion?
- The cask savours of the first fill.
- Bring a cow to the hall and she will run to the byre.
- A kite will never be a good hawk.
- Send a fool to France, and a fool he'll come back.
Related proverbs
Similar proverbs in the same language
English
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He that washes an ass's head, loses both his soap and his labour.
Similar proverbs in another language
Latin
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Quod natura negat, reddere nemo potest.
What nature denies, no one can repay.
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Aegre reprehendas, quod sinis consuescere.
You criticize yourself for allowing yourself to get used to it.
French
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A laver la tête d'un âne, l'on n'y perd que la lessive.
When you wash a donkey's head, all you lose is the detergent.
German
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Bauer bleibt Bauer.
Farmer remains farmer.
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Auf einen Eselkopf sind Laugen umsonst.
Lyes are free on a donkey's head.
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Beim Raben hilft kein Bad.
No bath will help with the raven.
Czech
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Smaž hada, jak chceš, nebude z něho úhoř.
Fry the snake all you want, it won't be an eel.
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Kdo co má od přirození, těžce se to při něm změní.
Who has what by nature, it's hard to change it.
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S čím kdo vyrostl, to mu i přirostlo.
What one has grown up with, one has grown attached to.
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Kavka, by se na sněhu válela, nezbělí.
Kavka, would roll in the snow, would not turn white.
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Cikána mýti — marná práce.
It's a futile job to mystify a gypsy.
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Mouřenín nezbělí.
Mourynen will not turn white.