Kay’s remark suggests that an improvement can sometimes prevent the pursuit of a much stronger outcome. Something that is merely better may appear satisfactory enough to end further questioning, even when a more ambitious solution remains possible.

The quotation is therefore about standards as much as progress. It warns against treating incremental improvement as the final goal when circumstances allow for a more fundamental advance. At the same time, the principle depends on judgement: striving for the best can be valuable, but only when the additional effort is justified and the higher standard is realistically attainable. Read in this way, the quote encourages people to distinguish between useful refinement and the pursuit of a genuinely superior result.