“I am a firm believer in the theory that you can do or be anything that you wish in this world, within reason, if you are prepared to make the sacrifices, think and work hard enough and long enough.”
— Frederick Banting
This quote comes from Banting's Cameron Prize Lecture delivered at the University of Edinburgh in 1928, five years after winning the Nobel Prize. It reflects his belief that determination and sacrifice matter more than credentials or background.
I was a small-town doctor from Alliston, Ontario with a failed practice and a war wound that nearly cost me my arm. I had no research experience. The idea for insulin came to me at two in the morning while preparing a lecture I was barely qualified to give. Everyone turned me down at first. I kept asking. The work nearly broke me, but I could not let it go because children were dying. If you have an idea that will not leave you alone, follow it.