“Politics is the art of the possible” (“Die Politik ist die Lehre vom Möglichen”) is an 1867 quotation that has been credited to German statesman Otto von Bismarck (1815-1898).
 
“Bureaucracy is the art of making the possible impossible” has been credited to Javier Pascual Salcedo since at least 1989. Nothing else is known about either the quotation or about Salcedo.
 
 
10 November 1989, Mobile (AL) Register, pg. 4-B, col. 2 ad:
“Bureaucracy is the art of making the possible impossible”
Salcedo
(Econo-Lodge Resort and Conv. Center—ed.)
 
3 July 1993, The Gleaner (Kingston, Jamaica), “High hopes, low language” by Desmond Henry, pg. 6, col. 1:
TREASURE BEACH: IF politics is the art of the possible, then bureaucracy must be the art of making the possible impossible.
 
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Reader’s Digest Quotable Quotes:
Wit and Wisdom for All Occasions from America’s Most Popular Magazine
By Reader’s Digest Association
Pleasantville, NY: Reader’s Digest
1997
Pg. 197:
Bureaucracy is the art of making the possible impossible. —JAVIER PASCUAL SALCEDO
 
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1002 Humorous Illustrations for Public Speaking:
Fresh, Timely, Compelling Illustrations for Preachers, Teachers and Speakers
By Michael Hodgin
Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan
2004
Pg. 393:
Bureaucracy is the art of making the possible impossible. (Javier Pascual Salcedo)
 
12 April 2005, The Gazette (Colorado Springs, CO), “Quote, Unquote,” Metro, pg. 6, col. 4:
“Bureaucracy is the art of making the possible impossible.”
JAVIER PASCUAL SALCEDO