Mikhail Kalashnikov quotes
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“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 KalashnikovSource : "Kalashnikov: 'I wish I'd made a lawnmower'" by Kate Connolly, www.theguardian.com. July 30, 2002.
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“Before attempting to create something new, it is vital to have a good appreciation of everything that already exists in this field.”
-- Mikhail Kalashnikov -
“It is painful for me to see when criminal elements of all kinds fire from my weapon.”
-- Mikhail KalashnikovSource : "Whose bright idea was that?". Interview With Simon Hattenstone, www.theguardian.com. November 12, 2010.
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“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 KalashnikovSource : "Kalashnikov, 90, decries 'criminal' use of rifle" by Dmitry Solovyov and Michael Roddy, www.reuters.com. October 26, 2009.
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“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 -
“I sleep well. It's the politicians who are to blame for failing to come to an agreement and resorting to violence.”
-- Mikhail KalashnikovSource : "AK-47 Inventor Says Conscience Is Clear" by Joel Roberts, www.cbsnews.com. July 6, 2007.
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“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 KalashnikovSource : "Mikhail Kalashnikov: 'I sleep soundly'" by Nick Paton Walsh, www.theguardian.com. October 9, 2003.
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“Things that are complex are not useful, Things that are useful are simple.”
-- Mikhail Kalashnikov -
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“The fact that people die because of an AK-47 is not because of the designer, but because of politics.”
-- Mikhail KalashnikovSource : "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 -
“Terrorists also want to use simple and reliable arms.”
-- Mikhail Kalashnikov -
“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 -
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“I've always wanted to improve and expand on the good name of my weapon by doing good things.”
-- Mikhail Kalashnikov -
“I tried a dozen different modifications that were rejected. But they all served as a path to the final design.”
-- Mikhail KalashnikovSource : "Mikhail Kalashnikov: 'I sleep soundly'" by Nick Paton Walsh, www.theguardian.com. October 9, 2003.
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“I'm proud of my invention, but I'm sad that it is used by terrorists.”
-- Mikhail KalashnikovSource : "Kalashnikov: 'I wish I'd made a lawnmower'" by Kate Connolly, www.theguardian.com. July 30, 2002.
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“I had to gain experience as I did not have a technical education.”
-- Mikhail Kalashnikov -
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“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 KalashnikovSource : "For Patriotism and Profit". Interview with Robert Fisk, www.worldpress.org. July 2001.
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“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 -
“I am still ready to shake hands with anyone who designs a better assault rifle than mine.”
-- Mikhail Kalashnikov -
“Life can make you do many things, even kiss a man with a runny nose.”
-- Mikhail KalashnikovSource : "Mikhail Kalashnikov: 'I sleep soundly'". Interview with Nick Paton Walsh, www.theguardian.com. October 9, 2003.
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“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 KalashnikovSource : "Mikhail Kalashnikov: 'I sleep soundly'" by Nick Paton Walsh, www.theguardian.com. October 9, 2003.
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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 KalashnikovSource : "Mikhail Kalashnikov: 'I sleep soundly'" by Nick Paton Walsh, www.theguardian.com. October 9, 2003.
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“Life is composed of different inventions.”
-- Mikhail Kalashnikov -
“Man keeps inventing things all the time.”
-- Mikhail Kalashnikov -
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“I was probably born with some designing abilities.”
-- Mikhail KalashnikovSource : "Mikhail Kalashnikov: 'I sleep soundly'" by Nick Paton Walsh, www.theguardian.com. October 9, 2003.
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“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 KalashnikovSource : "Mikhail Kalashnikov: 'I sleep soundly'" by Nick Paton Walsh, www.theguardian.com. October 9, 2003.
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“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 -
“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 -
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“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
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