Mikhail Kalashnikov quotes:

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.

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

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.

When I see Bin Laden with his AK-47, I got nervous. But what can I do, terrorists aren't fools: they too chose the most reliable guns.

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.

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

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

The AK-47 is not a device of aggression ... I devised this machine-gun for the security of my country.

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

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.

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.

The negative side is that sometimes it is beyond control.

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

I sleep well. It's the politicians who are to blame for failing to come to an agreement and resorting to violence.

Things that are complex are not useful, Things that are useful are simple.

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

My work is my life, and my life is my work. I invented this assault rifle to defend my country. Today, I am proud that it has become for many synonymous with liberty.

I am still ready to shake hands with anyone who designs a better assault rifle than mine.

Before attempting to create something new, it is vital to have a good appreciation of everything that already exists in this field.

It is painful for me to see when criminal elements of all kinds fire from my weapon.

It is the Germans who are responsible for the fact that I became a fabricator of arms. If not for them, I would have constructed agricultural machines.

Any designer believes his gun is the best, and when its test performance is a bit less impressive compared to others, he feels bitterness and envy.

Life is composed of different inventions.

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

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

I made it to protect the motherland.

I created a weapon to defend the borders of my motherland. It's not my fault that it's being used where it shouldn't be. The politicians are more to blame for this.

I was probably born with some designing abilities.

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

I would prefer to have invented a machine that people could use and that would help farmers with their work - for example a lawnmower.

It is the Germans who are responsible for the fact that I became a fabricator of arms. If not for them, I would have constructed agricultural machines. (...) If someone asks me how I can sleep at night knowing that my arms have killed millions of people, I respond that I have no problem sleeping, my conscience is clean. I constructed arms to defend my country.

I've always wanted to improve and expand on the good name of my weapon by doing good things.

Man keeps inventing things all the time.

My aim was to create armaments to protect the borders of my motherland. It is not my fault that the Kalashnikov became very well-known in the world; that it was used in many troubled places. I think the policies of these countries are to blame, not the designers. Man is born to protect his family, his children, his wife. But I want you to know that apart from armaments, I have written three books in which I try to educate our youth to show respect for their families, for old people, for history.

My spiritual pain is unbearable. I keep having the same unsolved question: if my rifle claimed people's lives, then can it be that I a Christian and an Orthodox believer, was to blame for their deaths?

Terrorists also want to use simple and reliable arms.

Then it was like a genie out of the bottle and it began to walk all on its own and in directions I did not want.

You see, with [designing]weapons, it is like a woman who bears children. For months she carries her baby and thinks about it. A designer does much the same thing with a prototype. I felt like a mother - always proud. It is a special feeling, as if you were awarded with a special award. I shot with it a lot. I still do now. That is why I am hard of hearing.