Thomas Edison - There's a way to do it better - find it

Welcome to the Daily Quote – a podcast designed to kickstart your day in a positive way. I'm your host, Andrew McGivern, for August 28th.Today is National Burger Day, celebrating America's most iconic sandwich. The hamburger's origin story is delightfully messy, with multiple people claiming to have invented it. Louis Lassen is often credited by the Library of Congress for creating the first hamburger in 1900 at his New Haven restaurant when he slapped a Hamburg steak between two pieces of bread for a customer in a hurry.

But Charlie Nagreen, known as "Hamburger Charlie", claimed he invented it in 1885 at a Wisconsin county fair by flattening a meatball between bread so fairgoers could eat while walking around. The truth is, the hamburger likely evolved from several practical innovations by different people solving the same problem: how to make meat portable and easy to eat.

What started as a simple solution has become a global phenomenon, representing American ingenuity, convenience, and the beautiful simplicity of a great idea executed well.Which brings us to today's quote from the inventor Thomas Edison, who once said:"There's a way to do it better – find it."Edison's philosophy captures perfectly what makes the hamburger such a brilliant invention. Multiple people looked at existing food – meat, bread, the challenge of eating on the go – and thought, "There's got to be a better way to do this."

Whether it was Louis Lassen serving busy workers who needed to eat quickly, or Charlie Nagreen helping fairgoers enjoy their meal while walking around, each inventor saw an everyday problem and refused to accept that it couldn't be improved. They weren't trying to create a culinary revolution – they were just looking for a better way.

That's the beauty of innovation: it often starts with someone noticing inefficiency in ordinary situations and asking, "Why does it have to be this way?" The hamburger succeeded because it solved multiple problems at once – it was portable, customizable, affordable, and delicious.Edison understood that improvement isn't about grand gestures or perfect solutions. It's about persistent curiosity and the willingness to experiment until you find something that works better than what existed before.I think about my own relationship with burgers, and how they represent this constant quest for "better." I started with basic fast-food burgers as a kid, then discovered gourmet burgers with artisanal buns and fancy toppings, and now my favourite burger is the only made on my own BBQ and my best ever homemade burger is the infamous TITANIC Burger.

It is so tasty with all the fixings and just like the Titanic it is huge and it always goes down on its maiden voyage.So today, in honor of National Burger Day, consider where you might apply Edison's philosophy in your own life. What everyday challenges are you accepting as unchangeable when there might be a better way waiting to be discovered?

Remember that the best innovations often come from improving ordinary things rather than inventing entirely new ones. Sometimes the most revolutionary idea is simply doing something familiar just a little bit better.

That's going to do it for today. May you always seek better ways and never stop improving the ordinary.

I'm Andrew McGivern, signing off for now, but I'll be back tomorrow – same pod time, same pod station – with another Daily Quote.