Hi. Does anyone know where, when, or why Abraham Lincoln said:

Question

"What kills a skunk is the publicity it gives itself."

Thanks in advance!!

Thank you for using the Jiskha Homework Help Forum. This question has been asked twice before recently, under history and/or social studies. Please review these and the answers given.

Sat., Oct. 21, 4:45 p.m. by Lydia

Sun., Oct. 15, 9:50 p.m. by June

That is a different question regarding the same subject.

http://www.jiskha.com/display.cgi?id=1160923761

Yes, but those aren't very good answers.

She is correct they aren't

You asked:

Hi. Does anyone know where, when, or why Abraham Lincoln said:

"What kills a skunk is the publicity it gives itself."

This is one of the answers this question received on Oct. 15.

According to this Web site, Lincoln made that statement in a campaign circular in 1843.

http://www.elibronquotations.com/author.phtml?a_id=2691

That answer answers the when and why parts of your question. Since Lincoln was involved in Illinois politics for many years, obviously the campaign brochure was produced in Illinois, probably Springfield.

Why do you say these answers aren't very good?

I don't really know why he said it. Like, what was he promoting or talking about when he said it? How do we know a brochure was involved?

The website I quoted said that the quote appeared in a campaign circular. Please check the noun defintion for CIRCULAR in this site.

http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/circular

You've received several interpretations about the meaning of Lincoln's words. Please choose the meaning that you think is best.

How do we know for sure that that is the sort of CIRCULAR that the website was talking about?