Objectivity is unattainable yet historians must still pursue it rigorously

Evidence

In a scholarly, meticulous, careful, precise way. No one can achieve complete freedom from bias. But … we do the best we can. This means using the new sciences that have been created for the study of documents, inscriptions, coins, and the like, and trying to achieve a better understanding of the past through methods and sources not previously available. — Bernard Lewis, From Babel to Dragomans, 1962

Categorization

• SEED: Angles well as a grounding quote for an essay on responsible historiography — how the acknowledgment of bias paradoxically grounds rather than undermines scholarly method.
• DEFINE: Defines the craft ideal of critical but non-destructive historical method.