Toynbee argues that technological capability, however valuable, is not sufficient to sustain a fully human life or a successful society. Technology can improve material conditions, increase productivity and expand human power, but it cannot by itself determine what people should value, how they should treat one another or what purposes their increased capabilities ought to serve.

The statement therefore distinguishes technical progress from broader human progress. A society may become increasingly sophisticated in its machines and methods while still facing moral, social or spiritual problems that technology cannot resolve on its own. Toynbee’s point is not that technology is unimportant, but that it remains a means rather than a complete account of human flourishing. The quotation can therefore be applied when assessing innovations whose technical benefits are clear but whose wider value depends on questions of purpose, responsibility, relationships and the quality of human life.