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.

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

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

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

I made it to protect the motherland.

Life is composed of different inventions.

I was probably born with some designing abilities.

The negative side is that sometimes it is beyond control.

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

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.

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

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.

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

Man keeps inventing things all the time.

Terrorists also want to use simple and reliable arms.

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

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.

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.

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

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.

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.

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

It must be a balance in everything we do, not too much of everything, keep it simple, not complicated.

I'd always want to decorate my bedroom. I needed visuals and to be stimulated by things. I'm still like that. It's the way I see the world.

The idea of exposing the British public to the full breadth of my personality isn't a good one.

For we are born in other's pain, and perish in our own.

Well, it's embarrassing to be a star.

Arianna Huffington has exercised her renowned wisdom to give journalism another boost along the ever busier Internet. Her blog site promises to be an interesting challenge for those of us lucky enough to be invited to participate with our occasional contributions.

I am in Ghost Rider but I'm not sure when it's coming out.

If you see everything from the point of view of women being victims in some way, you don't see the wood for the trees. It is better to be a person than a woman.

A careful inspection showed them that, even if they succeeded in righting it by themselves, the cart would travel no longer. The axles were in a hopeless state, and the missing wheel was shattered into pieces.

I'm like a little kid when it comes to music. I mean, the music is always blasting wherever I am that people always knock on my door and say, 'It's too loud!' But I think music gives so much inspiration.

Instead of watching cartoons when I was little, I had Russian ballet videos from, like, the 1950s and 1940s.

The disquieting news of Danny Villanueva's death brought back memories of our time together at KNBC in the early 1970s.

I'd love to teach theatre arts.

I don't tweet very much. I still believe in the mystery of an artist. I believe in going out when I'm ready to sell my product. A lot of artists are out there every day. But I remember the Julio Iglesiases, the Jose Joses - and it was about the music.

My idea of a holiday was following my family up the hill with my pekinese, who would skip over the heather in front of me.

No man can understand why a woman shouldn't prefer a good reputation to a good time.

To him who has nothing it is forbidden not to relish filth.

I didn't get interested in education until I had kids.

I've been very lucky. I've written for most of my idols and the contemporaries.

I found Rome a city of bricks and left it a city of marble.

I'm not going to be joining ZZ Top. You know they can't play my stuff. It's too complicated.

I still believe nonfiction is the most important literature to come out of the second half of the 20th century.

After all my probing into the human brain, I should still be aware of mysteries and come up with them myself.

I took my sight and mobility for granted.