本性难移

Traditional form:

本性難移

Pinyin (reading):

běnxìngnányí

Definitions:

• It is hard to change one's essential nature (idiom). You can't change who you are.
• Can the leopard change his spots? (Jeremiah 13:23)

Characters:

• 本 - root, origin, source; basis
• 性 - sex, nature, character; suffix converting a verb to an adjective
• 难 - hard, difficult, arduous; unable
• 移 - to shift, to move about, to drift

Traditional characters:

• 本 - root, origin, source; basis
• 性 - sex, nature, character; suffix converting a verb to an adjective
• 難 - hard, difficult, arduous; unable
• 移 - to shift, to move about, to drift