Quotes by Mikhail Kalashnikov

About Mikhail Kalashnikov:

Lieutenant-General Mikhail Timofeyevich Kalashnikov is most famous for developing the AK-47 assault rifle and its improvements, AKM and AK-74, as well as the PK machine gun.
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

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

Mikhail Kalashnikov

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.

Mikhail Kalashnikov

I made it to protect the motherland.

Mikhail Kalashnikov

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

Mikhail Kalashnikov

I was probably born with some designing abilities.

Mikhail Kalashnikov

Terrorists also want to use simple and reliable arms.

Mikhail Kalashnikov

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

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

The negative side is that sometimes it is beyond control.

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 i...

Mikhail Kalashnikov

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

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

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

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

Mikhail Kalashnikov

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

Mikhail Kalashnikov

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

Mikhail Kalashnikov

Life is composed of different inventions.

Mikhail Kalashnikov

Man keeps inventing things all the time.

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

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

Mikhail Kalashnikov

Author Bio

  • NameMikhail Kalashnikov
  • DescriptionRussian small arms designer
  • AliasesMikhail Timofeyevich Kalashnikov
  • BornNovember 10, 1919
  • DiedDecember 23, 2013
  • CountrySoviet Union
  • ProfessionDesign Engineer; Tankman; Engineer; Inventor; Writer
  • WorksThe Gun That Changed The World; The Arms Designer Notes; From A Stranger's Doorstep To The Kremlin Gates, A Biography Of Mikhail Kalashnikov The AK Man; I Walked Along The Same Road As You Did; Fate Trajectory; Things That Are Useful Are Simple
  • AwardsState Stalin Prize; Order Of Lenin; Order Of The Red Star; Order Of The Red Banner Of Labour; Order Of Lenin; Order Of The October Revolution; Order Of Friendship Of Peoples; Order Of The Patriotic War 1st Class; Order For Services To The Fatherland 2nd Degree; Order Of St. Andrew; Order Of Honor; ; Order Of Military Merit; Order Of The Star Of Carabobo; ; ; Order Of Lenin; "Hammer And Sickle" Gold Medal; "Hammer And Sickle" Gold Medal; ; Lenin Prize; Medal Of Zhukov; Medal "For The Victory Over Germany In The Great Patriotic War 1941–1945"; Hero Of Socialist Labour; Hero Of The Russian Federation; Hero Of Socialist Labour