E1P28
Proposition — Part I
Latin
Quodcunque singulare sive quævis res quæ finita est et determinatam habet existentiam, non potest existere nec ad operandum determinari nisi ad existendum et operandum determinetur ab alia causa quæ etiam finita est et determinatam habet existentiam et rursus hæc causa non potest etiam existere neque ad operandum determinari nisi ab alia quæ etiam finita est et determinatam habet existentiam, determinetur ad existendum et operandum et sic in infinitum.
English (Elwes 1883)
Every individual thing, or everything which is finite and has a conditioned existence, cannot exist or be conditioned to act, unless it be conditioned for existence and action by a cause other than itself, which also is finite, and has a conditioned existence; and likewise this cause cannot in its turn exist, or be conditioned to act, unless it be conditioned for existence and action by another cause, which also is finite, and has a conditioned existence, and so on to infinity.
Modern English
Every singular thing, or any thing that is finite and has a determinate existence, cannot exist or be determined to act unless it is determined to exist and act by another cause, which is itself also finite and has a determinate existence. And this cause, in its turn, cannot exist or be determined to act unless it is determined to exist and act by another, which is itself also finite and has a determinate existence, and so on to infinity.