--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: What kills a skunk is the publicity it…" description: "\"What kills a skunk is the publicity it gives itself.\" — Abraham Lincoln" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/435/abraham-lincoln-88_kills_what-kills-a-skunk-is-the-publicity-it-g_2190107.png" --- # What kills a skunk is the publicity it gives itself. ![“What kills a skunk is the publicity it gives itself.” quote by Abraham Lincoln](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/435/abraham-lincoln-88_kills_what-kills-a-skunk-is-the-publicity-it-g_2190107.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/435/abraham-lincoln-88_kills_what-kills-a-skunk-is-the-publicity-it-g_2190107.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/435/abraham-lincoln-88_kills_what-kills-a-skunk-is-the-publicity-it-g_2190107.png) > “What kills a skunk is the publicity it gives itself.” [Abraham Lincoln](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abraham-lincoln/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Publicity can be self‑destructive, attracting negative attention that harms the source. **In simple terms:** Too much exposure can hurt. Key Takeaway Beware of over‑exposing yourself. Themes reputation exposure consequences Mood cautious reflective Type advice observational When to use this quote - political campaigns - social media posts - celebrity scandals - corporate PR crises Key Concepts self‑destruction media dynamics Questions to Reflect On - How does your own publicity affect your goals? - When can exposure be advantageous? A Different Perspective If managed well, publicity can also bring benefits. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Kills](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/kills/) [Kills Skunk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/kills-skunk-4767229/) [Publicity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/publicity/) [Skunk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/skunk/) [Skunk Publicity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/skunk-publicity-4767230/) ## Related quotes > [A skunk is better company than a person who prides himself on being 'frank'.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-a-heinlein/a-skunk-is-better-company-than-a-person-who-prides-himself-on-being/) [Robert A. Heinlein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-a-heinlein/) > [“I am the skunk killer.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/libby-fischer-hellmann/i-am-the-skunk-killer/) [Libby Fischer Hellmann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/libby-fischer-hellmann/) > [“So a skunk humped my leg earlier.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jennifer-l-armentrout/so-a-skunk-humped-my-leg-earlier/) [Jennifer L. Armentrout](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jennifer-l-armentrout/) > [Basically, there are three ways the skunk and I are a lot alike. The first is, we both like to spread our "stink" around.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-handey/basically-there-are-three-ways-the-skunk-and-i-are-a-lot-alike-the/) [Jack Handey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-handey/) > [Shortest straw pulls the skunk's tail.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-hopkins-adams/shortest-straw-pulls-the-skunk-s-tail/) [Samuel Hopkins Adams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-hopkins-adams/) > [“A skunk sat on a stump and thunk the stump stunk, But the stump thunk the skunk stunk.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/riley-weber/a-skunk-sat-on-a-stump-and-thunk-the-stump-stunk-but-the-stump-thunk/) [Riley Weber](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/riley-weber/) > [We used to have skunks that would go under our house and scratch their backs. I remember after I had my first baby, I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ree-drummond/we-used-to-have-skunks-that-would-go-under-our-house-and-scratch/) [Ree Drummond](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ree-drummond/) > [“I skinned a skunk to make a rug. You know, for the bathroom.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jarod-kintz/i-skinned-a-skunk-to-make-a-rug-you-know-for-the-bathroom/) [Jarod Kintz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jarod-kintz/) > [“Dr. Stern told me that the wilderness of Carolina is alive wi’ fierce creatures—bears and wildcats and wicked panthers—and a great foul thing the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/diana-gabaldon/dr-stern-told-me-that-the-wilderness-of-carolina-is-alive-wi-fierce/) [Diana Gabaldon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/diana-gabaldon/) > [Sometimes when you get in a fight with a skunk, you can't tell who started it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lloyd-doggett/sometimes-when-you-get-in-a-fight-with-a-skunk-you-can-t-tell-who/) [Lloyd Doggett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lloyd-doggett/) > [Back in the 1950s, there was a top-secret program code-named SUNTAN being conducted at a top-secret facility called Skunk Works. Its objective? To develop…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/annie-jacobsen/back-in-the-1950s-there-was-a-top-secret-program-code-named-suntan/) [Annie Jacobsen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/annie-jacobsen/) > [“No use trying to cat fight with a skunk.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/d-michael-quinn/no-use-trying-to-cat-fight-with-a-skunk/) [D. Michael Quinn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/d-michael-quinn/) > [“The hair compromise he finally agreed to is a white strip on the left side – geriatric punk, he’d whispered to himself – with,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-atwood/the-hair-compromise-he-finally-agreed-to-is-a-white-strip-on-the-left/) [Margaret Atwood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-atwood/) > [ I will not get into a pissing contest with that skunk \[Joseph McCarthy\]. ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dwight-d-eisenhower/i-will-not-get-into-a-pissing-contest-with-that-skunk-joseph-mccarthy/) [Dwight D. Eisenhower](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dwight-d-eisenhower/) > [It may be that which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet,' but I should be loath to see…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexander-henry/it-may-be-that-which-we-call-a-rose-by-any-other-name-would-smell-as/) [Alexander Henry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexander-henry/) ## More by Abraham Lincoln > [Elections belong to the people. It's their decision. If they decide to turn their back on the fire and burn their behinds, then they…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abraham-lincoln/elections-belong-to-the-people-it-s-their-decision-if-they-decide-to/) [Abraham Lincoln](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abraham-lincoln/) > [ Next came the Patent laws. These began in England in 1624; and, in this country, with the adoption of our constitution. Before then \[these?\],… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abraham-lincoln/next-came-the-patent-laws-these-began-in-england-in-1624-and-in-this/) [Abraham Lincoln](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abraham-lincoln/) > [All that I am or ever hope to be, I owe to my angel Mother.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abraham-lincoln/all-that-i-am-or-ever-hope-to-be-i-owe-to-my-angel-mother/) [Abraham Lincoln](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abraham-lincoln/) > [While the people retain their virtue and vigilance, no administration, by any extreme of wickedness or folly, can very seriously injure the government in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abraham-lincoln/while-the-people-retain-their-virtue-and-vigilance-no-administration/) [Abraham Lincoln](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abraham-lincoln/) > [I could not have slept tonight if I had left that helpless little creature to perish on the ground.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abraham-lincoln/i-could-not-have-slept-tonight-if-i-had-left-that-helpless-little/) [Abraham Lincoln](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abraham-lincoln/) > [Let us at all times remember that all American citizens are brothers of a common country, and should dwell together in bonds of fraternal…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abraham-lincoln/let-us-at-all-times-remember-that-all-american-citizens-are-brothers/) [Abraham Lincoln](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abraham-lincoln/) > [If you wish to be a lawyer, attach no consequence to the place you are in, or the person you are with; but get…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abraham-lincoln/if-you-wish-to-be-a-lawyer-attach-no-consequence-to-the-place-you-are/) [Abraham Lincoln](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abraham-lincoln/) > [As we keep or break the Sabbath Day we nobly save or meanly lose the last best hope by which man rises.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abraham-lincoln/as-we-keep-or-break-the-sabbath-day-we-nobly-save-or-meanly-lose-the/) [Abraham Lincoln](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abraham-lincoln/) > [Tell the truth and you won't have so much to remember](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abraham-lincoln/tell-the-truth-and-you-won-t-have-so-much-to-remember/) [Abraham Lincoln](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abraham-lincoln/) > [With high hope for the future, no prediction is ventured.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abraham-lincoln/with-high-hope-for-the-future-no-prediction-is-ventured/) [Abraham Lincoln](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abraham-lincoln/) > [We know, Southern men declare that their slaves are better off than hired laborers amongst us. How little they know, whereof they speak! There…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abraham-lincoln/we-know-southern-men-declare-that-their-slaves-are-better-off-than/) [Abraham Lincoln](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abraham-lincoln/) > [I am glad to see that a system of labor prevails under which laborers can strike when they want to.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abraham-lincoln/i-am-glad-to-see-that-a-system-of-labor-prevails-under-which-laborers/) [Abraham Lincoln](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abraham-lincoln/) > [I don't like that man. I must get to know him better.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abraham-lincoln/i-don-t-like-that-man-i-must-get-to-know-him-better/) [Abraham Lincoln](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abraham-lincoln/) > [In this sad world of ours, sorrow comes to all; and to the young, it comes with bitterest agony because it takes them unawares.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abraham-lincoln/in-this-sad-world-of-ours-sorrow-comes-to-all-and-to-the-young-it/) [Abraham Lincoln](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abraham-lincoln/) > [The man does not live who is more devoted to peace than I am. None who would do more to preserve it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abraham-lincoln/the-man-does-not-live-who-is-more-devoted-to-peace-than-i-am-none-who/) [Abraham Lincoln](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abraham-lincoln/) [Explore all 1,437 Abraham Lincoln quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abraham-lincoln/) ## More Kills quotes > [“He who kills from afar knows nothing at all about act of killing. He who kills from afar derives no lesson from life or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arturo-p-rez-reverte/he-who-kills-from-afar-knows-nothing-at-all-about-act-of-killing-he/) [Arturo Pérez-Reverte](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arturo-p-rez-reverte/) > [Making a definitive declaration of intent or meaning kills the photograph.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daido-moriyama/making-a-definitive-declaration-of-intent-or-meaning-kills-the/) [Daido Moriyama](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daido-moriyama/) > [Every shot that kills ricochets.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gilbert-parker/every-shot-that-kills-ricochets/) [Gilbert Parker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gilbert-parker/) > [“everything kills everything else in some way. Fishing kills me exactly as it keeps me alive. The boy keeps me alive, he thought. I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-hemingway/everything-kills-everything-else-in-some-way-fishing-kills-me-exactly/) [Ernest Hemingway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-hemingway/) > [Why does man kill? He kills for food. And not only food: frequently there must be a beverage.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/woody-allen/why-does-man-kill-he-kills-for-food-and-not-only-food-frequently/) [Woody Allen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/woody-allen/) > [It really hurts... my silence kills me…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jessey-kaur/it-really-hurts-my-silence-kills-me/) [Jessey Kaur](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jessey-kaur/) > [Man is the poet who kills, Woman the angel who eats.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/greg-bear/man-is-the-poet-who-kills-woman-the-angel-who-eats/) [Greg Bear](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/greg-bear/) > [“Every dead body that is not exterminated, gets up and kills. The people it kills, get up and kill!”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dr-james-foster/every-dead-body-that-is-not-exterminated-gets-up-and-kills-the-people/) [Dr. James Foster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dr-james-foster/) > [Be happy In front of people who don't like you it kills them <3](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/be-happy-in-front-of-people-who-don-t-like-you-it-kills-them-3/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“that's what kills a man: lack of change.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-bukowski/that-s-what-kills-a-man-lack-of-change/) [Charles Bukowski](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-bukowski/) > [If life doesnt kill you, emptiness will](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sangfroid-stalker/if-life-doesnt-kill-you-emptiness-will/) [SangFroid Stalker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sangfroid-stalker/) > [“War is no joke, it seems. It destroys, kills, burns, separates, brings unhappiness.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/zlata-filipovi/war-is-no-joke-it-seems-it-destroys-kills-burns-separates-brings/) [Zlata Filipović](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/zlata-filipovi/) > [“Yet each man kills the thing he loves, By each let this be heard, Some do it with a bitter look, Some with a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oscar-wilde/yet-each-man-kills-the-thing-he-loves-by-each-let-this-be-heard-some/) [Oscar Wilde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oscar-wilde/) > [“Three-letter word that kills you for sure - Ego.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/saru-singhal/three-letter-word-that-kills-you-for-sure-ego/) [Saru Singhal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/saru-singhal/) > [“Fame kills brain cells”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/fame-kills-brain-cells/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) [Browse all 276 Kills quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/kills/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "What kills a skunk is the publicity it gives itself.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Abraham Lincoln" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abraham-lincoln/what-kills-a-skunk-is-the-publicity-it-gives-itself/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Kills" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abraham-lincoln/what-kills-a-skunk-is-the-publicity-it-gives-itself/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/435/abraham-lincoln-88_kills_what-kills-a-skunk-is-the-publicity-it-g_2190107.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/435/abraham-lincoln-88_kills_what-kills-a-skunk-is-the-publicity-it-g_2190107.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/435/abraham-lincoln-88_kills_what-kills-a-skunk-is-the-publicity-it-g_2190107.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“What kills a skunk is the publicity it gives itself.” — Abraham Lincoln", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Abraham Lincoln", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abraham-lincoln/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "What kills a skunk is the...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abraham-lincoln/what-kills-a-skunk-is-the-publicity-it-gives-itself/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abraham-lincoln/what-kills-a-skunk-is-the-publicity-it-gives-itself/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```