Dec 16, 2025
... though neither I nor any reasonable person would believe that Ranke's ideal of writing history wie es eigentlich gewesen sei [as it actually was] is attainable-what ideal is?-that does not release the historian from the harsh obligation of striving for it to the best of his or her ability. To do otherwise is as though (to draw a theological parallel) the concept of inherent human sinfulness and fallibility were taken as a self- evident reason neither to pursue virtue, nor to avoid error; or, worse, as indicating that the terms "virtue" and "error" had no significant meaning.
-- Peter Green (1990), Alexander to Actium: The Historical Evolution of the Hellenistic Age, introduction
