Quotes About Kalashnikov

#1. In the 1970s, after the Damansky Island clashes, a joke began circulating: 'Optimists study English; pessimists study Chinese; and realists learn to use a Kalashnikov.

John Vaillant

#2. AK 47, is perfect copy, yes? Every detail. Like real thing. Yes. Kalashnikov. Your boy, he be happy for Uncle Sante, no?"
"I'm sorry, Sante. It's really nice of you, but I don't want Sofus playing with guns."
Conversation between George Hanson and Sante
In The Shadow of Sadd

Steen Langstrup

#3. It wasn't perfect, but it would do for a few seconds, long enough to hole up and wait for the shooting to die down. Only it didn't. Pistols, shotguns, and that clatter you never forget, the kind that tells you someone has a Kalashnikov.

Max Brooks

#4. It appears that the murder rate inside prisons is ten times higher than that outside prisons. It must be due to all those Kalashnikov rifles that are issued to prisoners upon their incarceration.

Jeff Cooper

#5. Talk about tactful - she's got a tongue like a Kalashnikov!

Steve Fowler

#6. He had a Kalashnikov, the universal weapon of all budget warriors,

Claire North

#7. Kabul fell prey to men who looked like they had tumbled out of their mothers with Kalashnikov in hand ...

Khaled Hosseini

#8. 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

#9. Terrorists also want to use simple and reliable arms.

Mikhail Kalashnikov

#10. The negative side is that sometimes it is beyond control.

Mikhail Kalashnikov

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

Mikhail Kalashnikov

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

Mikhail Kalashnikov

#13. Life is composed of different inventions.

Mikhail Kalashnikov

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

Mikhail Kalashnikov

#15. 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

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

Mikhail Kalashnikov

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

Mikhail Kalashnikov

#18. I made it to protect the motherland.

Mikhail Kalashnikov

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

Mikhail Kalashnikov

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

Mikhail Kalashnikov

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

Mikhail Kalashnikov

#22. 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

#23. 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

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

Mikhail Kalashnikov

#25. 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

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

Mikhail Kalashnikov

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

Mikhail Kalashnikov

#28. 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

#29. 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

#30. 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

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

Mikhail Kalashnikov

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

Mikhail Kalashnikov

#33. 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

#34. 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

#35. I was probably born with some designing abilities.

Mikhail Kalashnikov

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

Mikhail Kalashnikov

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

Mikhail Kalashnikov

#38. 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

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

Mikhail Kalashnikov

#40. Man keeps inventing things all the time.

Mikhail Kalashnikov