Probably not. Lots of people are riding on wheels with 17 gauge spokes. That's pretty skinny. You could probably build a good wheel with even skinnier spokes but they tend to wind up too much during the tensioning process so they'd be hard to work with.

A stable rim is a good start. Deep section rims have made low spoke count wheels possible. Build quality is another big factor. I personally think that spoke strength might be the least significant factor.