a chain is only as strong as its weakest link

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First appeared in Thomas Reid’s Essays on the Intellectual Powers of Man, published in 1786. The full idiom a chain is no stronger than its weakest link was first printed in Cornhill Magazine in 1868.

19 source translations are retained for this English entry.

• Chinese Mandarin: 千里之堤,潰於蟻穴 /千里之堤 — aphorism
• Chinese Mandarin: 溃于蚁穴 (qiānlǐzhīdī, kuìyúyǐxué) — aphorism
• Chinese Mandarin: 一步下錯,滿盤皆輸 /一步下错 — aphorism
• Chinese Mandarin: 满盘皆输 — aphorism
• Danish: en kæde kun så stærk som det svageste led — aphorism
• Dutch: de keten is zo sterk als haar zwakste schakel — aphorism
• Finnish: ketju on vain niin vahva kuin sen heikoin lenkki — aphorism
• German: eine Kette ist nur so stark wie ihr schwächstes Glied — aphorism
• Greek: μια αλυσίδα είναι όσο δυνατή όσο ο πιο αδύναμός της κρίκος (mia alysída eínai óso dynatí óso o pio adýnamós tis kríkos) — aphorism
• Hungarian: a leggyengébb láncszemnél szakad a lánc — aphorism
• Indonesian: sebuah rantai hanya sekuat tautan terlemahnya — aphorism
• Italian: una catena è forte quanto il suo anello più debole — aphorism
• Norwegian Bokmål: en kjede er aldri sterkere enn sitt svakeste ledd — aphorism
• Norwegian Nynorsk: ei kjede er aldri sterkare enn det svakaste ledd — aphorism
• Portuguese: uma corrente é tão forte quanto seu elo mais fraco — aphorism
• Portuguese: uma corrente é tão forte quanto o seu elo mais fraco — aphorism
• Russian: где то́нко, там и рвётся (gde tónko, tam i rvjótsja) — aphorism
• Spanish: una cadena es tan fuerte como su eslabón más débil — aphorism
• Swedish: en kedja är aldrig starkare än dess svagaste länk — aphorism