59 Weakness Quotes For Tapping Into Your Strength

We have a varied collection of weakness quotes. 

Weakness is a feeling everyone knows; how we respond to it separates us. 

What is weakness? 

Weakness is defined as a fault or a defect, as well as a state or instance of being weak.

Weakness can mean physical strength or mental fortitude. 

Here are some great ways to make the most of your weaknesses:

• Weakness does not define who you are. 
• Weaknesses can be made into strengths. 
• Life would be boring if we did not have things to work on. 

For some, a weakness is a fondness, perhaps for a particular dessert or treat. 

American writer Ralph Waldo Emerson noted, “Our strength grows out of our weakness.” 

If we allow them, our weaknesses can become some of our most outstanding teachers. 

Learning from our weaknesses can drive us to a better version of ourselves. 

It is essential to know weaknesses. 

Otherwise, we could not embrace strength. 

As babies, we are still getting used to our bodies. 

The months when we cannot control our neck teach us the power to sip upright. 

A display of weakness may occur in a decision we are forced to make, how we speak to others, or how we treat ourselves. 

We can feel weak for giving up on a challenge or even a relationship. 

Some people feel weak about what they consume or their thoughts. 

Weakness can breed strength

We have a great collection of weakness quotes exploring ways humans work with weaknesses. 

Check the quotes below. 

Short weakness quotes 

These weakness quotes say a lot with a little. 

1. “Vulnerability is not weakness.” — Brené Brown

2. “No one is without weakness.” — Russell M. Nelson

3. “Don’t argue for other people’s weaknesses.” — Stephen Covey

4. “You cannot run away from weakness.” — Robert Louis Stevenson

5. “Our strength grows out of our weakness.” — Ralph Waldo Emerson

6. “Weakness of attitude becomes weakness of character.” — Albert Einstein

7. “Pessimism leads to weakness. Optimism leads to power.” — William James

8. “Don’t expect to build up the weak by pulling down the strong.” — Calvin Coolidge

9. “Build up your weaknesses until they become your strong points.” — Knute Rockne

10. “Because thou hast seen thy weakness thou shalt be made strong.” — Ether 12:37

Weakness quotes that make you think

Here is a thought-provoking set of weakness quotes. 

11. “Strength does not come from physical capacity. It comes from an indomitable will.” — Mahatma Gandhi

12. “There is a sacredness in tears. They are not the mark of weakness but of power.” — Washington Irving

13. “Success is achieved by developing our strengths, not by eliminating our weaknesses.” — Marilyn Vos Savant

14. “We deceive ourselves when we fancy that only weakness needs support. Strength needs it far more.” — Sophie Swetchine

15. “Concentrate on your strengths, instead of your weaknesses, on your powers instead of your problems.” — Paul J. Meyer

16. “Although men are accused of not knowing their own weakness, yet perhaps few know their own strength.” — Jonathan Swift

17. “Our greatest weakness lies in giving up. The most certain way to succeed is always to try just one more time.” — Thomas A. Edison

18. “My attitude is that if you push me towards something that you think is a weakness, then I will turn that perceived weakness into a strength.” — Michael Jordan

19. “As you simplify your life, the laws of the universe will be simpler; solitude will not be solitude, poverty will not be poverty, nor weakness weakness.” — Henry David Thoreau

20. “Better to be a strong man with a weak point than to be a weak man without a strong point. A diamond with a flaw is more valuable than a brick without a flaw.” — William J. H. Boetcker

Powerful weakness quotes and sayings

Check out these cool weakness quotes. 

21. “Our greatest weakness lies in giving up.” — Thomas A. Edison

22. “Insincerity is always weakness; sincerity even in error is strength.” — George Henry Lewes

23. “As part of the divine plan, we are tested to see whether we master weakness or let weakness master us.” — Russell M. Nelson

24. “Let our weakness be what it will, mankind will still be weaker; and whilst there is a world, it’s woman that will govern it.” — John Vanbrugh

25. “But wishing for strength won’t make us strong. It takes faith and work to shore up a weakened cord of integrity.” — Russell M. Nelson

26. “In a contest with a weaker party, it is more honorable to yield than to force concession. Magnanimity becomes the strong.” — Christian Nestell Bovee

27. “What played to what had been a relative weakness for us this was exploding overseas as well, and we had to scramble to mount some reach and get into places and be competitive on the ground.” — Brit Hume

28. “Recognizing our strengths and our weaknesses, we should strive to use good judgment in all of our choices and decisions, make good use of every opportunity, and do our best in every task we undertake.” — Joseph B. Wirthlin

29. “Life is not an easy matter. You cannot live through it without falling into frustration and cynicism unless you have before you a great idea which raises you above personal misery, above weakness, above all kinds of perfidy and baseness.” — Leon Trotsky

30. “In such a world as this, with such hearts as ours, weakness is wickedness in the long run. Whoever lets himself be shaped and guided by anything lower than an inflexible will, fixed in obedience to God, will, in the end, be shaped into a deformity, and guided to wreck and ruin” — Alexander MacLaren

Weakness quotes about kindness 

These weakness quotes remind us kindness is a strength. 

31. “Human love is often but the encounter of two weaknesses.” — Francois Mauriac

32. “Men are taught to apologize for their weaknesses, women for their strengths.” — Lois Wyse

33. “Ambition, old as mankind, the immemorial weakness of the strong.” — Vita Sackville-West

34. “Weaknesses, so-called, are nothing more nor less than vice in disguise!” — Johann Kaspar Lavater

35. “Tears shed for self are tears of weakness, but tears shed for others are a sign of strength.” — Billy Graham

36. “If she were honest, weakness should be masked at all times. Any weakness could, and would be exploited.” ― Callie Hunter

37. “The mortal race is far too weak not to grow dizzy on unwonted brights.” — Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

38. “Weakness ineffectually seeks to disguise itself–like a drunken man trying to show how sober he is.” — Christian Nestell Bovee

39. “We gain strength and courage, and confidence by each experience in which we really stop to look fear in the face… we must do that which we think we cannot.” — Eleanor Roosevelt

40. “If weakness may excuse, What murderer, what traitor, parricide, Incestuous, sacrilegious, but may plead it? All wickedness is weakness; that plea, therefore, With God or Man will gain thee no remission.” — John Milton

Strength and weakness quotes

We all have weaknesses and strengths; these quotes celebrate that idea. 

41. “Wickedness is weakness.” — John Milton

42. “The weak can never forgive.” — Mahatma Gandhi

43. “All cruelty springs from weakness.” — Seneca the Younger

44. “When you find your opponent’s weak spot, hammer it.” — John Heisman

45. “The concessions of the weak are the concessions of fear.” — Edmund Burke

46. “But everyone has a besetting sin to which he returns.” — Jean de La Fontaine

47. “Compliment people. Magnify their strengths, not their weaknesses.” — Joyce Meyer

48. “Compassion is not weakness, and concern for the unfortunate is not socialism.” — Hubert H. Humphrey

49. “The weak-minded man is the slave of his vices and the dupe of his virtues.” — Jean Antoine Petit-Senn

50. “Only a kind person is able to judge another justly and to make allowances for his weaknesses. A kind eye, while recognizing defects, sees beyond them.” — Lawrence G. Lovasik

51. “Sadness doesn’t equal weakness, sweetheart. If anything, it shows the love you have inside of you, and nothing stronger in this world exists.” ― Aimee Carter

52. “I traded cowardice for cruelty; I traded weakness for ferocity.” ― Veronica Roth

53. “There is weakness in pretending to know more than you know or in stating less than you know.” ― Robert Henri

54. “Your greatest area of leadership often comes out of your greatest area of pain and weakness.” ― Wayde Goodall

55. “Caring is weakness, and weakness is death.” ― Adrienne deWolfe

56. “Weakness, like not being able to bury the past. Weakness, like not giving up hope when you know you should.” ― Julianna Baggott

57. “Sometimes you don’t realize your own strength until you come face to face with your greatest weakness.” ― Susan Gale

58. “In the midst of wanting to be powerful, I found a weakness.” ― Jonnalyn Cabigting

59. “While appearing weak is okay, giving in to weakness is definitely not.” ― Alyson Noel

Weakness is subjective

Can weakness be a strength? 

Finding the answer depends on who you ask. 

What some perceive as a weakness, others may see as a strength. 

Recently, Will Smith and Chris Rock had an exchange at the Oscars. 

People all over the country chimed in opinions.

The slap drew in so much commentary because it was a moment people could identify with.

People wondered what they would do in that situation. 

Some condemned the slap, and others identified with Smith’s actions. 

Many wondered which choice was the weakest.  

Some people felt being slapped on national programming was a sign of weakness.

Other people thought not responding violently to violence was the more powerful act of strength. 

We all have the opportunity to choose what strength means to us. 

Forgiving moments of weakness is part of our growth. 

Mahatma Gandhi once said, “The weak can never forgive.” 

Taking a holistic approach to strength allows us to experience being strong in different dimensions. 

If we can make the different aspects of our lives strong, we have a better chance of experiencing growth. 

What’s your biggest takeaway from these weakness quotes and sayings?

Let us know in the comment section below.