Hugh Hefner

“I'm not an active feminist: I'm an active humanist.”

“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.”

“My parents are wonderful people and they instilled in me an idealism for which I'm grateful.”

“I remain very much connected to my childhood... I have never been too jaded or too sophisticated.”

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

“Life is too short to be living somebody else's dream.”

“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 c...”

“You know, from my point of view, I'm the luckiest cat on the planet.”

“I guess you could say, I'm just a typical Methodist kid at heart.”

“It's hard to really compare new love and old love.”

“I have very strong theories about magazine publishing. And I think that it is the most personal form of journalism. And I think that a magazine is an old friend.”

“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.”

“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' a...”

“People get their information in different ways now. And we are a little poorer for it, because the way you get information affects what you learn.”

“Historically the Puritans left England to escape religious persecution, and they promptly turned around and started persecuting the people they didn't agree with - the scarlet letter A, and...”

“It's good to be selfish. But not so self-centered that you never listen to other people.”

“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.”

“I guess I'm the most successful man I know. I wouldn't trade places with anybody in the world.”

“In my wildest dreams, I could not have imagined a sweeter life.”

“To pursue your dreams, to have them come true, to have made a difference, to have changed society, to have fought against powerful forces... that's a life well-spent.”