Whatever was required to be done, the Circumlocution Office was beforehand with all the public departments in the art of perceiving - HOW NOT TO DO IT.

A sarcastic description of bureaucracy so devoted to obstruction that it has made avoiding action into a fine art. Every department is outdone by one office whose real specialty is finding the reason nothing can be done, which turns paperwork into a kind of talent.

Context reviewed 20 September 2026