" Photocopying is an excuse not to read something. You say to yourself, I’ll photocopy this because it’s worth reading, and you do so. But then you’re not going to read the original, are you? You think, I’ve dealt with it, but you haven’t, have you? You put the photocopy in the in tray or you leave it on top of a filing cabinet, or whatever, but you never read it.” He paused. “The carrying out of the external acts associated with a duty is not the same as the discharge of the duty itself. "

― Alexander McCall Smith , The Man with the Silver Saab (Detective Varg, #3)