The Brain That Changes Itself (6)

"I knew that the words 'mother' and 'daughter' meant but no the expression 'mother's daughter,'" Zazetsky wrote, "The expressions 'mother's daughter' and 'daughter's mother' sounded just the same to me. I also had trouble with expressions like 'Is an elephant bigger than a fly?' All I could figure out was that a fly was small and an elephant is big, but I didn't understand the words 'bigger' and 'smaller.'"

......

She isolated herself and began toiling to the point of exhaustion, week after week --- with only brief breaks for sleep --- at mental exercises she designed, though she had no guarantee they would lead anywhere.

有时候一个人有缺陷或是残疾，或者遇到巨大的困难，或是处于特别无助的境地，这些劣势会激发出人深藏的潜力，反倒创造出比健康人或身处顺境的人要好得多的成绩来。