46 Quotes by 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.

I was probably born with some designing abilities.

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.

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.

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

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

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.