- [on publishing Playboy magazine] If there was going to be a sexual revolution, I would be its pamphleteer.
- Playboy exploits sex the way Sports Illustrated exploits sports.
- [asked if blondes have more fun] They do with me.
- Playboy was founded on the notion that nice girls like sex, too.
- [talking about the risk of putting a nude woman in a magazine] It was risky enough that I didn't put my name on the first issue.
- The major civilizing force in the world is not religion, it's sex.
- [on feminists] They were wrong! The part of the women's movement that was anti-sexual was ill-conceived. The notion that women, in escaping from the bondage of over 2,000 years, should view Playboy - which helped set them free - as the enemy is an indication of real confusion. Historically it's understandable: we are a puritan people in America and women's suffrage was directly connected to the prohibitionists.
- [on being dumped by his 25 year old bride-to-be]: This was going to be my wedding day, but life is full of surprises. After all is said and done, staying single is probably for the best.
- [observation, 2017] My magazine wasn't just about naked women. It was about breaking down barriers, starting a cultural conversation about sexuality, and standing up for social justice.
- [observation, 1974] 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.
- [on a personal critique of him by Gloria Steinem] Women are the major beneficiaries of getting rid of the hypocritical old notions about sex. Now some people are acting as if the sexual revolution was a male plot to get laid. One of the unintended byproducts of the women's movement is the association of the erotic impulse with wanting to hurt somebody.
- I survived a stroke two weeks ago. My recovery is total and something of a miracle. What has happened is actually a 'stroke of luck' that I fully expect will change the direction of my life
- [Yvette Vickers pictorial in 1959] I got a call from our lawyer who had concerns that the image was too explicit. Her bum was raised, and he thought it was an invitation to sodomy. I said, 'You've got a naughty mind.'
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