E3P31
Proposition — Part III
Latin
Si aliquem imaginamur amare vel cupere vel odio habere aliquid quod ipsi amamus, cupimus vel odio habemus, eo ipso rem constantius amabimus, etc. Si autem id quod amamus, eum aversari imaginamur vel contra, tum animi fluctuationem patiemur.
English (Elwes 1883)
If we conceive that anyone loves, desires, or hates anything which we ourselves love, desire, or hate, we shall thereupon regard the thing in question with more steadfast love, &c. On the contrary, if we think that anyone shrinks from something that we love, we shall undergo vacillations of soul.
Modern English
If we imagine that someone loves, desires, or hates something that we ourselves love, desire, or hate, we will by that very fact love that thing more steadfastly, and so on. But if we imagine that someone shrinks from what we love, we will undergo vacillation of soul.