25 Hugh Hefner Quotes from the Infamous Playboy

Hugh Hefner, the ‘playboy philosopher,’ wasn’t just an American magazine publisher.

Sure, he was the founder and editor-and-chief of Playboy, but he also embodied the lifestyle like non-other!

Hugh Hefner didn’t just enjoy publishing articles about sex.

He enjoyed sex in general, even just talking about it, as you will see from these iconic Hugh Hefner quotes.

He wasn’t always the millionaire playboy, though.

In fact, he had some rather humble beginnings.

He was born in Chicago.

His parents were from Nebraska, and his father was an accountant while his mother was a teacher.

Hefner once said that his family was “conservative, Midwestern, [and] Methodist”.

So much so, that his mother had wanted him to become a missionary.

His quotes about marriage and society prove he wasn’t quite cut out for that life.

Instead, he spent his life building the Playboy brand into an empire.

It consisted of Playboy Clubs around the world, luxury mansions where Playboy “playmates” partied and lived a wild lifestyle, which kept him and the magazine in the public eye.

He was a proponent of “sexual liberation” and “freedom of expression.”

Enjoy these Hugh Hefner quotes!

Don’t forget to also check out these sex quotes for relationships, love and intimacy.

If you like this article, we suggest you explore our most popular quotes article, a list of short inspirational quotes for daily encouragement. 

Read more related content on our inspirational quotes category page.

Funny Hugh Hefner Quotes and Sayings

1. “Someone once asked, ‘What’s your best pickup line?’ I said, ‘My best pickup line is, ‘Hi, my name is Hugh Hefner.'” ― Hugh Hefner

2. “Picasso had his pink period and his blue period. I am in my blonde period right now.” ― Hugh Hefner

3. “I don’t have dinner parties – I eat my dinner in bed.” ― Hugh Hefner

4. “Several girlfriends are easier to handle than one wife.” ― Hugh Hefner

5. “I think that retirement is the first step towards the grave.” ― Hugh Hefner

6. “Publishing a sophisticated men’s magazine seemed to me, the best possible way of fulfilling a dream I’d been nurturing ever since I was a teenager: to get laid a lot.” ― Hugh Hefner

7. “Well, if we hadn’t had the Wright brothers, there would still be airplanes. If there hadn’t been an Edison, there would still be electric lights. And if there hadn’t been a Hefner, we’d still have sex. But maybe we wouldn’t be enjoying it as much. So, the world would be a little poorer. Come to think of it, so would some of my relatives.” ― Hugh Hefner

8. “If a man has a right to find God in his own way, he has a right to go to the Devil in his own way also.” ― Hugh Hefner

9. “I guess I’m the most successful man I know. I wouldn’t trade places with anybody in the world.” ― Hugh Hefner

10. “I am not primarily an entrepreneurial businessman. I’m primarily a playboy philosopher.” ― Hugh Hefner

Conflicting Hugh Hefner quotes on marriage

11. “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

12. “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

13. “I think everyone should get married. I just took a little longer than usual.” ― Hugh Hefner

14. “If I ever try to get married again, shoot me.” ― Hugh Hefner

15. “I got married before I found myself. People should find themselves before they get married.” ― Hugh Hefner

16. “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

17. “I think getting married was a mistake along the way, but at the same time, I wouldn’t have the wonderful children I have if I didn’t get married.” ― Hugh Hefner

18. “I have been married twice, and those were not the happiest times of my life. Part of the problem, quite frankly, is that when you get married, the romance disappears and the children arrive and the love is transferred. It shouldn’t be that way, but too often it is transferred to the children.” ― Hugh Hefner

Iconic Hugh Hefner quotes about society, feelings, and sex

19. “Loneliness doesn’t have much to do with where you are.” ― Hugh Hefner

20. “Ageism is a variation of racism or sexism, all the other isms.” ― Hugh Hefner

21. “The major civilizing force in the world is not religion, it is sex.” ― Hugh Hefner

22. “Everybody marches to a different drummer.” ― Hugh Hefner

23. “One of the great ironies in our society is that we celebrate freedom and then limit the parts of life where we should be most free.” ― Hugh Hefner

24. “If you let society and your peers define who you are, you’re the less for it.” ― Hugh Hefner

25. “To begin with, I fought racism, then sexism, now I’m fighting ageism. One defines oneself in one’s own terms. If you let society and your peers define who you are, you’re the less for it.” ― Hugh Hefner

What did you learn from these Hugh Hefner quotes?

Hugh Hefner also became a political activist in the Democratic Party, fighting for causes that were important to him like First Amendment rights, animal rescue, and even restoring the Hollywood sign.

He had experience at another risque magazine before founding Playboy.

In January 1952, Hefner left his job as a copywriter for Esquire.

1953, his mother helped loan him the money to launch Playboy, which was initially going to be called Stag Party.

They published the first issue in December 1953, which featured Marilyn Monroe from a 1949 nude calendar shoot.

Marilyn had posed for the pictures under a pseudonym before she became famous.

Hugh did not get her consent to use the photos, and he never paid her for them either.

The first issue of Playboy sold over 50,000 copies.

Hugh was also a supporter of sexual liberation for everyone, not just straight men.

In Charles Beaumont’s science fiction story “The Crooked Man” straight men were being persecuted in a world where homosexuality was the norm.

Beaumont had originally pitched it to Esquire and when they rejected it, Playboy published it.

Hefner’s response to the hate mail the magazine received was, “If it was wrong to persecute heterosexuals in a homosexual society, then the reverse was wrong, too.”

Based on these Hugh Hefner quotes, it is clear he intended to live life his own way.

Please share any other funny or iconic Hugh Hefner quotes and sayings with us in the comment section below.