Hugh Hefner Quotes: 16 Sayings to Remember the Playboy Founder's Views on Sex and Women

Playboy founder Hugh Hefner was generally disgusting to womenkind for his attitudes on women, relationships and nudity, but he was also an admirable businessman, celebrity and American pioneer. In honor of his passing Wednesday night, here are 16 quotes to celebrate the former California playboy.

1. "Sex is the driving force on the planet. We should embrace it, not see it as the enemy."

2. "It's perfectly clear to me that religion is a myth. It's something we have invented to explain the inexplicable. My religion and the spiritual side of my life come from a sense of connection to the humankind and nature on this planet and in the universe. I am in overwhelming awe of it all: It is so fantastic, so complex, so beyond comprehension. What does it all mean—if it has any meaning at all? But how can it all exist if it doesn't have some kind of meaning? I think anyone who suggests that they have the answer is motivated by the need to invent answers, because we have no such answers."

3. "Life is too short to be living somebody else's dream."

4. "I have about 100 pairs of pajamas. I like to see people dressed comfortably."

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

6. "The notion that Playboy turns women into sex objects is ridiculous. Women are sex objects. If women weren't sex objects, there wouldn't be another generation. It's the attraction between the sexes that makes the world go 'round. That's why women wear lipstick and short skirts."

7. "Several girlfriends are easier to handle than one wife."

8. "In my wildest dreams, I could not have imagined a sweeter life."

9. "Picasso had his pink period and his blue period. I am in my blond period right now."

10. "Surrounding myself with beautiful women keeps me young."

11. "One of the problems with organized religion is that it has always kept women in a second-class position. They have been viewed as the daughters of Eve."

12. "I would like to think that I will be remembered as someone who had some positive impact on the sociosexual values of his time. And I think I'm secure and happy in that."

13. "You stay in touch with the boy who dreamed impossible dreams."

14. "If you let society and your peers define who you are, you're the less for it."

15. "Loneliness doesn't have much to do with where you are."

16. "If you don't have a sense of humor about life and yourself, then you are old."