When Byron happened to get ahead of his class, the master would say: "Now, Jordie, let me see how soon you will be at the foot again." Young Linnaeus was called by his teachers almost a blockhead.

Not finding him fit for the church, his parents sent him to college to study medicine.

But the silent teacher within, greater and wiser than all others, led him to the fields; and neither sickness, misfortune, nor poverty could drive him from the study of botany, the choice of his heart, and he became the greatest botanist of his age.
Richard B.Sheridan's mother tried in vain to teach him the most elementary studies.

The mother's death aroused slumbering talents, as has happened in hundreds of cases, and he became one of the most brilliant men of his age.
Samuel Drew was one of the dullest and most listless boys in his neighborhood, yet after an accident by which he nearly lost his life, and after the death of his brother, he became so studious and industrious that he could not bear to lose a moment.

He read at every meal, using all the time he could get for self-improvement.