Mikhail Kalashnikov Quotes

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

  Mikhail Kalashnikov

  Simple, Useful Things, Complexes

  92 Copy quote

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

  Mikhail Kalashnikov

  Ak 47, People, Example

  "Kalashnikov: 'I wish I'd made a lawnmower'" by Kate Connolly, www.theguardian.com. July 30, 2002.

  74 Copy quote

• 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.

  Mikhail Kalashnikov

  Ak 47, Borders, Weapons

  70 Copy quote

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

  Mikhail Kalashnikov

  Appreciation, Fields, Something New

  55 Copy quote

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

  Mikhail Kalashnikov

  Ak 47, People, Facts

  "Mikhail Kalashnikov: 'I sleep soundly'" by Nick Paton Walsh, www.theguardian.com. October 9, 2003.

  48 Copy quote

• When a young man, I read somewhere the following: God the Almighty said, 'All that is too complex is unnecessary, and it is simple that is needed.' So this has been my lifetime motto – I have been creating weapons to defend the borders of my fatherland, to be simple and reliable.

  Mikhail Kalashnikov

  Simple, Men, Ak 47

  "Kalashnikov, 90, decries 'criminal' use of rifle" by Dmitry Solovyov and Michael Roddy, www.reuters.com. October 26, 2009.

  44 Copy quote

• 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.

  Mikhail Kalashnikov

  Gun, Ak 47, Fool

  37 Copy quote

• 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.

  Mikhail Kalashnikov

  Country, Liberty, Rifles

  21 Copy quote

• 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.

  Mikhail Kalashnikov

  Country, Sleep, Night

  31 Copy quote

• 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.

  Mikhail Kalashnikov

  Country, Children, Book

  "For Patriotism and Profit". Interview with Robert Fisk, www.worldpress.org. July 2001.

  54 Copy quote

• 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

  Running, Ak 47, Wanted

  "Mikhail Kalashnikov: 'I sleep soundly'" by Nick Paton Walsh, www.theguardian.com. October 9, 2003.

  59 Copy quote

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

  Mikhail Kalashnikov

  Sleep, Agreement, Ak 47

  "AK-47 Inventor Says Conscience Is Clear" by Joel Roberts, www.cbsnews.com. July 6, 2007.

  32 Copy quote

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

  Mikhail Kalashnikov

  Fire, Ak 47, Criminals

  "Whose bright idea was that?". Interview With Simon Hattenstone, www.theguardian.com. November 12, 2010.

  30 Copy quote

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

  Mikhail Kalashnikov

  Hands, Design, Rifles

  16 Copy quote

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

  Mikhail Kalashnikov

  Ak 47, Proud, Invention

  "Kalashnikov: 'I wish I'd made a lawnmower'" by Kate Connolly, www.theguardian.com. July 30, 2002.

  19 Copy quote

• 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.

  Mikhail Kalashnikov

  Bottles, Want, Genies

  "Mikhail Kalashnikov: 'I sleep soundly'" by Nick Paton Walsh, www.theguardian.com. October 9, 2003.

  6 Copy quote

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

  Mikhail Kalashnikov

  Design, Path, Different

  "Mikhail Kalashnikov: 'I sleep soundly'" by Nick Paton Walsh, www.theguardian.com. October 9, 2003.

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• 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.

  Mikhail Kalashnikov

  Mother, Baby, Children

  15 Copy quote

• 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?

  Mikhail Kalashnikov

  Christian, Spiritual, Pain

  11 Copy quote

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

  Mikhail Kalashnikov

  Kissing, Men, Noses

  "Mikhail Kalashnikov: 'I sleep soundly'". Interview with Nick Paton Walsh, www.theguardian.com. October 9, 2003.

  9 Copy quote

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

  Mikhail Kalashnikov

  Country, Gun, Ak 47

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

  Mikhail Kalashnikov

  Boys, Trying, Wells

  "Mikhail Kalashnikov: 'I sleep soundly'" by Nick Paton Walsh, www.theguardian.com. October 9, 2003.

  14 Copy quote

• 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

  Home, Different, Sake

  "Mikhail Kalashnikov: 'I sleep soundly'" by Nick Paton Walsh, www.theguardian.com. October 9, 2003.

  11 Copy quote

• I was probably born with some designing abilities.

  Mikhail Kalashnikov

  Design, Born, Ability

  "Mikhail Kalashnikov: 'I sleep soundly'" by Nick Paton Walsh, www.theguardian.com. October 9, 2003.

  9 Copy quote

• 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.

  Mikhail Kalashnikov

  Machines, Arms, Facts

  9 Copy quote

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