Our capacity to care defines the boundaries is a powerful truth. It means our community isn’t a place on a map, but a space created by our active concern for others. The more we genuinely invest in people, the wider and more resilient our community becomes.
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Meaning
At its core, this quote flips the script on how we think about community. It’s not about geography or demographics. It’s about energy and attention. Your community is literally defined by who and what you actively care about.
Explanation
Let me break this down based on what I’ve seen in my work. We often think of community as a static thing—our neighborhood, our town. But McKnight and Block argue it’s dynamic. It’s an active creation.
Think about it. The neighbor you check in on, the local shop owner you know by name, the kid down the street you cheer for at their soccer game. Your care for them draws them into your circle. Conversely, the people you ignore or are indifferent to? They remain outside your community’s “boundaries,” even if they live next door. It’s a profound shift from passive residence to active connection. The boundary isn’t a fence; it’s the limit of your compassion and engagement.
Quote Summary
| Context | Attributes |
|---|---|
| Original Language | English (3668) |
| Category | Spiritual (229) |
| Topics | care (19), compassion (36), social life (26) |
| Literary Style | minimalist (442), poetic (635) |
| Emotion / Mood | gentle (183), reflective (382) |
| Overall Quote Score | 81 (258) |
Origin & Factcheck
This comes straight from the 2010 book, The Abundant Community: Awakening the Power of Families and Neighborhoods, by community pioneers John McKnight and Peter Block. You won’t find it falsely attributed to anyone else—this is their original, powerful insight born from decades of on-the-ground work in the US, focused on asset-based community development.
Attribution Summary
| Context | Attributes |
|---|---|
| Author | John McKnight (51) |
| Source Type | Book (4032) |
| Source/Book Name | The Abundant Community: Awakening the Power of Families and Neighborhoods (51) |
| Origin Timeperiod | 21st Century (1892) |
| Original Language | English (3668) |
| Authenticity | Verified (4032) |
Author Bio
John McKnight, Professor Emeritus at Northwestern University had spent decades of his life helping people rediscover the power of relationships. Being, co-founder of the ABCD Institute, his core idea revolves around communities that grows by identifying and connecting their assets. You’ll find the John McKnight book list here which are anchored by Building Communities from the Inside Out, The Careless Society, The Abundant Community, and The Connected Community.
| Official Website
Where is this quotation located?
| Quotation | Our capacity to care defines the boundaries of our community |
| Book Details | Publication Year/Date: 2010; ISBN/Unique Identifier: 9781605095844; Last edition: 2012; Number of pages: 192. |
| Where is it? | Chapter: Boundaries of Care, Approximate page from 2012 edition: 184 |