Hugh Hefner Quotes

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Hugh Hefner

Profession : Publisher

Birth : April 9, 1926

The major civilizing force in the world is not religion, it is sex.

Hugh Hefner

Surrounding myself with beautiful women keeps me young.

Hugh Hefner

I was very influenced by the musicals and romantic comedies of the 1930s. I admired Gene Harlow and such, which probably explains why, since the end of my marriage, I've dated nothing but a succession of blondes.

Hugh Hefner

My first wife was a brunette, and Barbi Benton, my major romantic relationship of the early 1970s, was a brunette. But since the end of my marriage, all of my girlfriends have been blonds.

Hugh Hefner

The whole 1950s notion was find the right girl, get married, move to the suburbs and then hang out with the guys while she stayed home with the babies. I felt that was sort of sad.

Hugh Hefner

I always say now that I'm in my blonde years. Because since the end of my marriage, all of my girlfriends have been blonde.

Hugh Hefner

I separated ways from the American feminist movement when they became anti-sexual. I believe embracing sexuality is a part of what it means to be free.

Hugh Hefner

There's almost a Rorschach-test quality about writing about 'Playboy'. What comes out in the press is not so much about me as it is about society.

Hugh Hefner

I was writing and cartooning and writing short stories from grade school on.

Hugh Hefner

My mother loaned me $1000. The first issue came out at the end of 1953. I knew I needed something original. I had a photographer shoot a 3D feature for the first issue and learned it would cost too much money. When the 3D thing turned out to be too expensive, at that same moment I came across the photos of Marilyn Monroe.

Hugh Hefner

I was an absent dad. Once the magazine started, I really had two families. The dream was the magazine. I worked through the night all the time.

Hugh Hefner

Part of the concept behind the magazine was breaking barriers. And it wasn't just a sexual thing. It was racial and doing the things that were right. And in the process, that set 'Playboy' apart.

Hugh Hefner

What made the magazine so popular was, even before I started writing the philosophy, there was a point of view in the magazine.

Hugh Hefner

The women's movement, from my point of view, was part of the larger sexual revolution that 'Playboy' had played such a large part in. The reality is that the major beneficiaries of the sexual revolution are women.

Hugh Hefner

Men's magazines in the period immediately after World War II were almost all outdoor-oriented. They were connected to some extent in the male bonding that came out of a war... And what I tried to create was a magazine for the indoor guy, but focused specifically on the single life: in other words, the period of bachelorhood before you settle down.

Hugh Hefner

With the rabbit as our emblem, when we got to the point in 1960 of opening the first Playboy Club... one of our executives suggested the possibility of a bunny costume. We tried it out, and I made some modifications - added the cuffs and the bow tie and collar - and the bunny was born.

Hugh Hefner

There were chunks of my life when I was married, and when I was married, I never cheated. But I made up for it when I wasn't married. You have to keep your hand in.

Hugh Hefner

The women's movement kind of came out of left field in the 1960s and 1970s when they turned on 'Playboy.'

Hugh Hefner

If I ever try to get married again, shoot me.

Hugh Hefner

'Playboy' was not a sex magazine as far as I was concerned. Sex was simply part of the total package; I was trying to bring sex into the fold of a healthy lifestyle.

Hugh Hefner