What good can it do an ass to be called a lion? 
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.
- A crow is never the whiter for washing herself often.
- 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.
- 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 another language
Latin
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Ex auro frenum non meliorat equum.
A bit of gold does not improve a horse.
German
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Wenn man den Dreck auch vergoldet, er stinkt doch.
Even if you gild the dirt, it still stinks.
Czech
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Janek do Prahy, Janek z Prahy.
Janek to Prague, Janek from Prague.