E4P13

Proposition — Part IV

Latin

Affectus erga rem contingentem quam scimus in præsenti non existere, cæteris paribus remissior est quam affectus erga rem præteritam.

English (Elwes 1883)

Emotion towards a thing contingent, which we know not to exist in the present, is, other conditions being equal, fainter than an emotion towards a thing past.

Modern English

An affect toward a contingent thing we know to be non-existent in the present is, all else being equal, weaker than an affect toward a past thing.