a chain is only as strong as its weakest link

English

Alternative forms

• a chain is as strong as its weakest link
• a chain is no stronger than its weakest link

Etymology

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.

Proverb

a chain is only as strong as its weakest link

1. An organization is only as strong or powerful as its weakest person; a group of associates is only as strong as its laziest member.

Related terms

• weakest link

Translations

aphorism

• Basque: ^{(please verify)} haria meheenean eten ohi da (literally “a thread usually breaks where it is thinnest”)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 千里之堤，潰於蟻穴 / 千里之堤，溃于蚁穴 (zh) (qiānlǐzhīdī, kuìyúyǐxué), 一步下錯，滿盤皆輸 / 一步下错，满盘皆输

• Danish: en kæde kun så stærk som det svageste led
• Dutch: de keten is zo sterk als haar zwakste schakel
• Finnish: ketju on vain niin vahva kuin sen heikoin lenkki
• German: eine Kette ist nur so stark wie ihr schwächstes Glied
• Greek: μια αλυσίδα είναι όσο δυνατή όσο ο πιο αδύναμός της κρίκος f (mia alysída eínai óso dynatí óso o pio adýnamós tis kríkos) (phrase)
• Hungarian: a leggyengébb láncszemnél szakad a lánc
• Italian: una catena è forte quanto il suo anello più debole
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: en kjede er aldri sterkere enn sitt svakeste ledd

  Nynorsk: ei kjede er aldri sterkare enn det svakaste ledd

• Portuguese: uma corrente é tão forte quanto seu elo mais fraco, uma corrente é tão forte quanto o seu elo mais fraco
• Russian: где то́нко, там и рвётся (gde tónko, tam i rvjótsja) (it snaps there, where it's thin)
• Spanish: una cadena es tan fuerte como su eslabón más débil
• Swedish: en kedja är aldrig starkare än dess svagaste länk