However, yes, he was quite driven and ambitious. While many of the inventions attributed to him were just projects he financed and oversaw, he put a lot of effort into having many of them developed.
watched a video on how exactly lightbulbs work - seems it was actually a ton of work just to get that filament to even work properly, work which Edison did have to put in himself.
It's cope. The whole "in a world where you can be anything, be kind" idea. But you can't "be anything". You aren't the Wright brothers, or Tesla, or Edison, or Mother Teresa. You jave a maximun potential and, if you waste it by getting groceries for meth heads, you aren't going to have time to do the best thing that you can.
-- Tesla
(In response to Edison's now famous 1% inspiration, 99% perspiration quip. And this was on a live debate between the two on a radio show.)