Mikhail Kalashnikov
Mikhail Kalashnikov

The negative side is that sometimes it is beyond control.

Mikhail Kalashnikov
Mikhail Kalashnikov

I'm proud of my invention, but I'm sad that it is used by terrorists.

Mikhail Kalashnikov
Mikhail Kalashnikov

People often ask me how I feel about my invention being used to kill people every day and the AK being a common weapon of ethnic conflicts. I want to make it clear that I created my assault rifle to protect my country. You can blame politicians for its spreading out of control on a global scale.

Mikhail Kalashnikov
Mikhail Kalashnikov

I made it to protect the motherland.

Mikhail Kalashnikov
Mikhail Kalashnikov

For years, I had a top secret clearance and never left Russia. Just once did I go to Bulgaria with my wife for a holiday at the Golden Sands resort, but I could not mention my real name. I was allowed to travel abroad only in the early 1990s.

Mikhail Kalashnikov
Mikhail Kalashnikov

The fact that people die because of an AK-47 is not because of the designer, but because of politics.

Mikhail Kalashnikov
Mikhail Kalashnikov

I wanted to invent an engine that could run for ever. I could have developed a new train, had I stayed in the railway. It would have looked like the AK-47 though.

Mikhail Kalashnikov
Mikhail Kalashnikov

Man keeps inventing things all the time.

Mikhail Kalashnikov
Mikhail Kalashnikov

I do not consider the AK to be the best-ever assault rifle.

Mikhail Kalashnikov
Mikhail Kalashnikov

Terrorists also want to use simple and reliable arms.

Mikhail Kalashnikov
Mikhail Kalashnikov

Life is composed of different inventions.

Mikhail Kalashnikov
Mikhail Kalashnikov

I tried a dozen different modifications that were rejected. But they all served as a path to the final design.

Mikhail Kalashnikov
Mikhail Kalashnikov

I have continued to work at different things, and rebuilt my home all by myself. I did it for the sake of satisfaction at doing something. I did it because I happened to be where I was.

Mikhail Kalashnikov
Mikhail Kalashnikov

I had to gain experience as I did not have a technical education.

Mikhail Kalashnikov
Mikhail Kalashnikov

We had grain but no mills, so I designed a special mill of wood so we could make flour.

Mikhail Kalashnikov
Mikhail Kalashnikov

I shot with it a lot. I still do now. That is why I am hard of hearing.

Mikhail Kalashnikov
Mikhail Kalashnikov

Life can make you do many things, even kiss a man with a runny nose.

Mikhail Kalashnikov
Mikhail Kalashnikov

Life is composed of different inventions. I have continued to work at different things and rebuilt my home all by myself. I did it for the sake of satisfaction at doing something.

Mikhail Kalashnikov
Mikhail Kalashnikov

I was trying to perform as best as possible. I was a boy at the time, but worked well with the sickle.

Mikhail Kalashnikov
Mikhail Kalashnikov

I was probably born with some designing abilities.