The veil behind which Nature has so carefully concealed her secrets is being lifted where the carbohydrates are concerned. Nevertheless, the chemical enigma of Life will not be solved until organic chemistry has mastered another, even more difficult subject, the proteins, in the same way as it has mastered the carbohydrates.

Nobel Lectures, Chemistry 1901-1921 - Nobel lecture for award received in 1902 - Syntheses in the Purine and Sugar Group (p. 34), Elsevier Publishing Company. Amsterdam, Netherlands. 1966