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

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

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

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.

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

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.

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.