Savant or Idiot

'Chicken Soup for the Soul' の 'OVERCOMING OBSTACLES' の章からの引用です。天才とか偉人は皆幼少の頃から才能を発揮していたと思いきや、こんな例をあげていました。

・Thomas Edison's teacher said he was too stupid to learn anything.
・Albert Einstein did not speak until he was four years old and didn't read until he was seven. His teacher described him as "mentally slow, unsociable and adrift forever in his foolish dreams."
・Walt Disney was fired by a newspaper editor for lack of ideas. Walt Disney also went bankrupt several times before he built Disneyland.
・Leo Tolstoy, author of War and Peace, flunked out of college. He was described as "both unable and unwilling to learn."

もしかするとこれらの偉人は "idiot savant" あるいは Autism Spectrum Disorderだったのでしょうか？

stick-in-the-mud

'Chicken Soup for the Soul' の 'LIVE YOUR DREAM' の章からの引用です。

When asked to explain, he went on to add, "She just never wanted to do nothin', just kind of became a stick-in-the-mud. Ten years ago when I was ninety-four, I told my wife we ain't never seen nothin' except the beatiful Pacific Northwest.

"stick-in-the-mud" は面白い表現ですが、どんな意味でしょうか？　辞書を見ます。

・McGraw-Hill Dictionary of American Idioms and Phrasal Verbs: a dull and old-fashioned person. Don't be such an old stick-in-the-mud.: some stick-in-the-mud objected to the kind of music we wanted to play in church.
・Collins Dictionary: If you describe someone as a stick-in-the-mud, you disapprove of them because they do not like doing anything that is new or fun.: But suggest to your dad that being such a stick in the mud is asking for trouble in any relationship.
・Cambridge English Dictionary: someone who is old-fashioned and too serious and avoids enjoyable activities: My dad's a real stick-in-the-mud.