Quotes about weakness
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“It's not that I've suddenly become stronger or that something has changed. I'm still shaking. But… We don't have to let those fears stop us. What's most important is that we try to rise above our weakness.”

Natsuki Takaya (1973) Manga artist

Fear, Change

“And always, I could see that, despite his weakness for her or because of it, he seemed uncatchable, as if he might slip away at any moment.”

Jodi Lynn Anderson American children's writer

Source: Tiger Lily

“But borrowing strength builds weakness.”

Stephen R. Covey book The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People

Source: The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People: Powerful Lessons in Personal Change

“From my weakness, I drew strength that never left me.”

Jorge Luis Borges book Ficciones

Source: Ficciones

“The scholar's greatest weakness: calling procrastination research.”

Stephen King book 11/22/63

Source: 11/22/63

“All we have is the story we tell. Everything we do, every decision we make, our strength, weakness, motivation, history, and character-what we believe-none of it is; it's all part of the story we tell. But here's the thing:”

Jess Walter book Beautiful Ruins

Source: Beautiful Ruins

History, Motivation, Decision, Parting

“I think in a moment of weakness, you might surprise yourself.”

Lisa Kleypas (1964) American writer

Source: Mine Till Midnight

Thinking

“What doesn't kill you maims you, cripples you, leaves you weak, makes you whiny and full of yourself at the same time. The more pain, the more pompous you get. Whatever doesn't kill you makes you incredibly annoying”

Rob Sheffield (1966) American music journalist

Source: Love Is a Mix Tape

Pain, Time

“The times I have tried to get close to someone resulted in me feeling threatened and weak.”

Henry Rollins (1961) American singer-songwriter

Source: Solipsist

Feeling, Time

“Always our wars have been our confessions of weakness”

Muriel Rukeyser (1913–1980) poet and political activist

Source: The Life of Poetry

War

“I don't divide the world into the weak and the strong, or the successes and the failures, those who make it or those who don't. I divide the world into learners and nonlearners.”

Benjamin R. Barber (1939–2017) US political scientist

Source: The Reader's digest vol. 140, no. 837-842 (1992), p. 159

World, Failure, Strong, Success

“Morality is the weakness of the mind.”

Arthur Rimbaud (1854–1891) French Decadent and Symbolist poet

“… we need to fall, and we need to be aware of it; for if we did not fall, we should not know how weak and wretched we are of ourselves, nor should we know our Maker's marvellous love so fully…”

Julian of Norwich book Revelations of Divine Love

Summations, Chapter 61
Source: Revelations of Divine Love
Context: If we never fell, we should not know how feeble and how wretched we are of our self, and also we should not fully know that marvellous love of our Maker. For we shall see verily in heaven, without end, that we have grievously sinned in this life, and notwithstanding this, we shall see that we were never hurt in His love, we were never the less of price in His sight. And by the assay of this falling we shall have an high, marvellous knowing of love in God, without end. For strong and marvellous is that love which may not, nor will not, be broken for trespass.

Love

“It is necessary that the weakness of the powerless is transformed into a force capable of announcing justice. For this to happen, a total denouncement of fatalism is necessary. We are transformative beings and not beings for accommodation.”

Paulo Freire book Pedagogy of the Oppressed

Source: Pedagogy of the Oppressed

Justice

“The weak are cruel. The strong have no need to be.”

Alice Hoffman (1952) Novelist, young-adult writer, children's writer

Source: The Foretelling

Strong

“It is true that we are weak and sick and ugly and quarrelsome but if that is all we ever were, we would millenniums ago have disappeared from the face of the earth.”

John Steinbeck (1902–1968) American writer

On Intent
Writers at Work (1977)

“What needs my Shakespeare for his honoured bones,
The labor of an age in pilèd stones,
Or that his hallowed relics should be hid
Under a star-y-pointing pyramid?
Dear son of memory, great heir of fame,
What need'st thou such weak witness of thy name?”

John Milton (1608–1674) English epic poet

On Shakespeare (1630)
Source: The Complete Poetry

Age, Star, Memory

“Astrology and all these mystical things are generally signs of a weak mind; therefore as soon as they are becoming prominent in our minds, we should see a physician, take good food, and rest.”

Swami Vivekananda (1863–1902) Indian Hindu monk and phylosopher

Pearls of Wisdom

Food

“My condition is not unhappiness, but it is also not happiness, not indifference, not weakness, not fatigue, not another interest – so what is it then?”

Franz Kafka (1883–1924) author

Source: Diaries of Franz Kafka

Happiness, Indifference

“This is a great fact: strength is life; weakness is death. Strength is felicity, life eternal, immortal; weakness is constant strain and misery, weakness is death.”

Swami Vivekananda (1863–1902) Indian Hindu monk and phylosopher

Life, Death

“Never build your emotional life on the weaknesses of others.”

George Santayana (1863–1952) 20th-century Spanish-American philosopher associated with Pragmatism

Life

“Weakness never got anyone anywhere.”

Julia Quinn (1970) American novelist

Source: The Viscount Who Loved Me

“I used to be strong, but now I am weak.
I used to be pretty, but now I look sick.”

E. Lockhart book We Were Liars

Source: We Were Liars

Strong

“Some women have a weakness for shoes… I can go barefoot if necessary. I have a weakness for books.”

Oprah Winfrey (1954) American businesswoman, talk show host, actress, producer, and philanthropist

Women, Books, Shoe

“Love isn't a weakness.”

Cassandra Clare book City of Fallen Angels

Source: City of Fallen Angels

Love

“John Matthew was her well of soul, as the symphaths called it, or her pyrocant, to the vampires. Her essential weakness.”

Jessica Bird (1969) U.S. novelist

Source: Lover Avenged

Soul

“The men in my family are strong because the women in my family kill and eat the weak ones.”

Robert Jordan (1948–2007) American writer

Women, Men, Family, Strong

“You couldn't have strength without weakness, you couldn't have light without dark, you couldn't have love without loss”

Jodi Picoult book The Tenth Circle

Source: The Tenth Circle

Love, Light, Loss

“Sane is rich and powerful. Insane is wrong and poor and weak. The rich are free, the poor are put in cages. Res Ipsa Loquitur, amen. Mahalo.”

Hunter S. Thompson (1937–2005) American journalist and author

Source: Kingdom of Fear: Loathsome Secrets of a Star-Crossed Child in the Final Days of the American Century

“We all have moments of weakness. It’s how we recover from them that really counts.”

Richelle Mead (1976) American writer

Source: Succubus Blues

“Sometimes you’re loved because of your weaknesses. What you can’t do is sometimes more compelling than what you can.”

Melissa Bank book The Girls' Guide to Hunting and Fishing

Source: The Girls' Guide to Hunting and Fishing

Love

“This world… belongs to the strong, my friend! The ritual of our existence is based on the strong getting stronger by devouring the weak.”

Ken Kesey book One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest

Source: One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest

World, Strong

“That was the problem with loving people: it made you weak. It made you need them. It made the thought of not having them the worst thing in the world.”

Laurell K. Hamilton book Flirt

Source: Flirt

Love, People, World, Problem

“Let no one think of me that I am humble or weak or passive; let them understand I am of a different kind: dangerous to my enemies, loyal to my friends. To such a life glory belongs.”

Euripidés (-480–-406 BC) ancient Athenian playwright

Source: Medea and Other Plays: Medea / Alcestis / The Children of Heracles / Hippolytus

Life, Understanding, Thinking

“Never violate a woman, nor harm a child. Do not lie, cheat or steal. These things are for lesser men. Protect the weak against the evil strong. And never allow thoughts of gain to lead you into the persuit of evil.”

David Gemmell book White Wolf

Source: White Wolf

Men, Lie, Strong, Evil

“I have taken advantage of other people's weaknesses in order to cover my own.”

David Levithan The Realm of Possibility

Source: The Realm of Possibility

People

“Madam, the commonest weakness of our race is our ability to rationalize our most selfish purposes.”

Robert A. Heinlein book The Star Beast

Source: The Star Beast (1954), Chapter 14, “Destiny? Fiddlesticks!” (p. 219)

Selfishness

“If you let people believe that you are weak, sooner or later you’re going to have to kill them.”

Don Winslow book Savages

Source: Savages

People

“Do not cry for me, Azrael. Do not waste your tears. You made your decision. And this is mine. Sacrifice seems to be my destiny. A funny thing for a selfish man, isn't it? They always called me weak back then…”

Melissa de la Cruz book The Van Alen Legacy

Source: The Van Alen Legacy

Decision, Tear, Cry, Selfishness

“Weak is he who permits his thoughts to control his actions; strong is he who forces his actions to control his thoughts.”

Og Mandino (1923–1996) American author

Strong

“Of all the causes which conspire to blind
Man's erring judgement, and misguide the mind,
What the weak head with strongest bias rules,
Is PRIDE, the never-failing vice of fools.”

Alexander Pope (1688–1744) eighteenth century English poet

Fools

“Weakness' is weakness only in light of the aims man sets for himself, the instruments at his disposal and the laws he imposes.”

Simone de Beauvoir book The Second Sex

Source: The Second Sex

Law, Light

“You can't let praise or criticism get to you. It's a weakness to get caught up in either one.”

John Wooden (1910–2010) American basketball coach

“The block of granite which was an obstacle in the pathway of the weak becomes a stepping-stone in the pathway of the strong.”

Thomas Carlyle (1795–1881) Scottish philosopher, satirical writer, essayist, historian and teacher

Strong

“The srongest love is the love which is not afraid to show the weakness”

Paulo Coelho (1947) Brazilian lyricist and novelist

Love

“Defend the weak, protect both young and old, never desert your friends. Give justice to all, be fearless in battle and always ready to defend the right."

—The law of Badger Lords”

Brian Jacques book Lord Brocktree

Source: Lord Brocktree

Justice, Law

“The greatest sin is to think yourself weak”

Swami Vivekananda (1863–1902) Indian Hindu monk and phylosopher

Source: Pearls of Wisdom

Thinking

“It occurred to him that strength was quite different from toughness and that being vulnerable wasn't quite the same as being weak.”

Michelle Magorian (1947) English children's writer

Source: Goodnight Mister Tom

“Your strength is just an accident arising from the weakness of others.”

Joseph Conrad book Heart of Darkness

Source: Heart of Darkness

“It is through weakness and vulnerability that most of us learn empathy and compassion and discover our soul.”

Desmond Tutu (1931) South African churchman, politician, archbishop, Nobel Prize winner

Source: God Has a Dream: A Vision of Hope for Our Time

Soul, Learning

“You gain power by pretending to be weak. By contrast, you make people feel strong. You save people by letting them save you.”

Chuck Palahniuk book Choke

Source: Choke

People, Feeling, Strong

“It's not so much that he can't fall in love, but he has not the weakness necessary.”

Leo Tolstoy book Anna Karenina

Source: Anna Karenina

Love

“I'm not a. I have no male pride for you to trick me with, and I am not interested in single combat. That is entirely a weakness of your sex, not mine. I am a woman. I will use any weapon and all weapons to get what I want.”

Cassandra Clare book City of Fallen Angels

Source: City of Fallen Angels

Sex

“Leo: "So… giants who can throw mountains. Friendly wolves that will eat us if we show weakness. Evil espresso drinks. Gotcha. Maybe this isn't the best time to bring up my psycho babysitter."
Piper: "Is that another joke?”

Rick Riordan book The Lost Hero

Source: The Lost Hero

Mountain, Drink, Evil, Time

“Guys always think tears are a sign of weakness. They’re a sign of FRUSTRATION. She’s only crying so she won’t cut your throat in your sleep. So make nice and be grateful.”

Donna Barr (1952) comic book author and cartoonist

Guy, Thinking, Tear, Sleep

“The weak would never enter the kingdom of love.”

Gabriel García Márquez book Love in the Time of Cholera

Source: Love in the Time of Cholera

Love

“Weak people believe what is forced on them. Strong people what they wish to believe, forcing that to be real.”

Gene Wolfe (1931–2019) American science fiction and fantasy writer

Source: Shadow & Claw

People, Strong

“If your concern is that I may be overcome with manly ardor and ravish you in a moment of weakness… I may. If you ask nicely.”

Lisa Kleypas (1964) American writer

Source: Devil in Winter

“Nor did I need anyone's pity, but I would accept it with grace, because I have been well trained. Rudeness was a sign of weakness. Grace stemmed from power, the powere to accept anything and move on.”

Robin Wasserman book Skinned

Source: Skinned

Training

“she never showed girly weaknesses like cellulite or crushes. she never lingered on injustices committed against her.”

Ann Brashares book The Last Summer

Source: The Last Summer

“Intellectual despair results in neither weakness nor dreams, but in violence. It is only a matter of knowing how to give vent to one's rage; whether one only wants to wander like madmen around prisons, or whether one wants to overturn them.”

Georges Bataille (1897–1962) French intellectual and literary figure

Dreams, Rage, Despair

“No one is ever quite as strong or as weak as you'd think.”

Deb Caletti (1963) American writer

Source: The Six Rules of Maybe

Thinking, Strong

“ABSTAINER, n. A weak person who yields to the temptation of denying himself a pleasure.”

Ambrose Bierce (1842–1914) American editorialist, journalist, short story writer, fabulist, and satirist

The Devil's Dictionary (1911)
Source: The Unabridged Devil's Dictionary
Context: Abstainer, n. A weak person who yields to the temptation of denying himself a pleasure. A total abstainer is one who abstains from everything but abstention, and especially from inactivity in the affairs of others.

Pleasure, Personality

“Management is about human beings. Its task is to make people capable of joint performance, to make their strengths effective and their weaknesses irrelevant.”

Peter F. Drucker book The Essential Drucker

Source: The Essential Drucker

People

“The chains of habit are too weak to be felt until they are too strong to be broken.”

Samuel Johnson (1709–1784) English writer

Strong

“You can not entertain weak, harmful, negative thoughts ten hours a day and expect to bring about beautiful, strong and harmonious conditions by ten minutes of strong, positive, creative thought.”

Charles F. Haanel book The Master Key System

Source: The Master Key System

Beauty, Strong

“To want is to have a weakness.”

Margaret Atwood book The Handmaid's Tale

Source: The Handmaid's Tale

“If you only do what is easy, you will always remain weak.”

Joyce Meyer (1943) American author and speaker

Source: Battlefield of the Mind: Winning the Battle in Your Mind

“once you laugh at you own weaknesses, you can move forward. Comedy breaks down walls. It opens up people. If you're good, you can fill up those openings with something positive. Mabye…….. combat some the ugliness in the world.”

Goldie Hawn (1945) American actress, film director, and producer.

People, World

“Plant seeds of expectation in your mind; cultivate thoughts that anticipate achievement. Believe in yourself as being capable of overcoming all obstacles and weaknesses.”

Norman Vincent Peale (1898–1993) American writer

“whatever you love, that is your weakness”

Holly Black (1971) American children's fiction writer

Source: Ironside

Love

“Having an eye for beauty isn't the same thing as a weakness.”

Suzanne Collins book Catching Fire

Variant: Having an eye for beauty isn't the same thing as a weakness... except possibly when it comes to you.
Source: Catching Fire

Beauty

“a man would know the women he was meant to be with because she made him weak. Till he claimed her and she made him strong.”

Kresley Cole American writer

Source: If You Deceive

Women, Strong

“There are things of which I may not speak;
There are dreams that cannot die;
There are thoughts that make the strong heart weak,
And bring a pallor into the cheek,
And a mist before the eye.”

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1807–1882) American poet

Dreams, Strong, Heart

“Compassion is not weakness, and concern for the unfortunate is not socialism.”

Hubert H. Humphrey (1911–1978) Vice-President of the USA under Lyndon B. Johnson

“The city glitters past us with its sharp edges, reminding us of how tiny, how weak, how totally unimportant we are.”

Joe Meno (1974) American writer

Source: Demons in the Spring

Past

“I have lived lies. I have done it again and again. I live lies because I cannot endure the weakness of anger, and I cannot admit the irrationality of love.-Marius”

Anne Rice (1941) American writer

Love, Anger

“To be weak is miserable,
Doing or suffering.”

John Milton book Paradise Lost

Source: Paradise Lost

Suffering

“I learned that it is the weak who are cruel, and that gentleness is to be expected only from the strong.”

Leo Rosten (1908–1997) American writer

Source: Captain Newman, M. D (1962), p. 328; this is also sometimes attributed to Leo Buscaglia, who often quoted it in his addresses and in his book Living, Loving and Learning (1982).

Strong, Learning