Do people change?

'Can people change?' is a different question from 'Do people change?'. Everyone could, in theory, if they wanted to, but then they'd have to be able to change what they want or they'd just be being themselves by changing their behavior according to their fixed will (which is a roundabout way of saying they would actually not be changing at all).

In response to the question of whether people do change, my opinion is that people change less the more they age. If you are waiting for a fifty year-old man to change his ways, you'll most likely be waiting until the end of time. A fool at forty is a fool indeed, and also in deed: he'll have had time to err persistently in the same ways, which means plenty of rejected opportunities for learning. Over time, all aspects of character become founded and built upon repetition, and plenty of repetition of mistakes means a very solid enmity towards good judgement. People disposed towards goodness and armed with a bit of strenght of spirit get better over time, everyone else becomes at least slightly worse.

Our bodies change regardless of our character, though, and this can also have an impact on our relationship with the world. I guess it becomes harder to be sweet when chronic health conditions pile up, which would at least in part explain the general brusqueness of older people.

Will a particular person we know ever change? In doubt, I ask myself: how humble is this person? If they can hear, consider and accept criticism, they can change. If their priority is the preservation of their self-view, which we can see them attempt by neutralizing criticism without considering it, change for them is impossible. We are more able to change the less attached we are to the current version of ourselves. This is why humility is so precious, as it is the precondition for all improvement. The monks in the Egyptian desert said at several times something along these lines: you may toil incessantly, but Satan never rests. You may fast, but Satan does not eat. You may keep vigil, but Satan will not sleep at all. The only way in which you can surpass him is by humility, for Satan has no humility.

I guess the problem is to think we are ever done. Many people think that they reach a moment where they are all grown up, and for them this implies having reached perfection (on our own terms). But this is not so. At some point we must assume the responsibilities of adulthood, yes — the first of which is eternal work towards improvement. There is no point in life in which we are entitled to feel comfortable with our defects.