A biography for Hugh Hefnerhasn’t been written yet.
“When 'Penthouse' and 'Hustler' came along, they confused what I was trying to do. Before they arrived, we were perceived as a sophisticated men's magazine.”
“The difference between Marilyn Monroe and the early Pamela Anderson is not that great. What's amazing is that the taste of American men and international tastes in terms of beauty have essentially stayed the same. Styles change, but our view of beauty stays the same.”
“I think everyone should get married. I just took a little longer than usual.”
“I think that retirement is the first step towards the grave.”
“I'm never going to grow up. Staying young is what it is all about for me.”
“My folks were raised pure prohibitionist. They were very good people, with high moral standards - but very repressed. There was no hugging and kissing in my home.”
“The Westwood Cemetery is just a few blocks from my home, and a number of my very dear friends are buried there.”
“Ageism is a variation of racism or sexism, all the other isms.”
“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.”
“The people who had the most impact on me when I was young were Freud and Darwin, but growing up I also had my film idols.”
“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.”
“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.”
“I'm very comfortable with the nature of life and death, and that we come to an end. What's most difficult to imagine is that those dreams and early yearnings and desires of childhood and adolescence will also disappear. But who knows? Maybe you become part of the eternal whatever.”
“What made the magazine so popular was, even before I started writing the philosophy, there was a point of view in the magazine.”
“Living in the moment, thinking about the future, and staying connected to the past: That's what makes me feel whole.”
“לפיקאסו הייתה את התקופה הוורודה והתקופה הכחולה שלו. אני כרגע בתקופה הבלונדינית שלי.”
“ההבדל בין מרילין מונרו לפמלה אנדרסון המוקדמת הוא לא כל כך גדול. מה שמדהים הוא שהטעם של גברים אמריקאים וטעמים בינלאומיים מבחינת יופי נשארו בעצם אותו הדבר. סגנונות משתנים, אבל ההשקפה שלנו על היופי נשארת זהה.”
“הושפעתי מאוד ממחזות הזמר והקומדיות הרומנטיות של שנות ה־30. הערצתי את ג'ין הארלו וכאלה, מה שכנראה מסביר מדוע, מאז תום הנישואים שלי, יצאתי רצף רק של בלונדיניות.”
“אשתי הראשונה הייתה ברונטית, וברבי בנטון, מערכת היחסים הרומנטית העיקרית שלי בתחילת שנות ה־70, הייתה ברונטית. אבל מאז תום הנישואים שלי, כל החברות שלי היו בלונדיניות.”
“'פלייבוי' לא היה מגזין סקס מבחינתי. סקס היה פשוט חלק מהחבילה הכוללת; ניסיתי להכניס סקס לאורח חיים בריא.”