nihil est praestantius deō; ab eō igitur mundum necesse est regī. nūllī igitur est nātūrae subiectus deus. omnem ergō regit ipse nātūram, DN. 2, 77, nothing is more excellent than god. Therefore the universe must be governed by him. Therefore god is in no respect subject to nature. Consequently he rules all nature himself. For the position of these words in their clauses, see [1688]; for ergō igitur and itaque ergō, 1689. For hinc, inde, eō, ideō, idcircō, proptereā, as coordinating words, see [1691].
[Affirmative Coordination.]
[2159.] A new sentence affirmative of a foregoing is often introduced by an emphatic sīc or ita.
These words often introduce a general truth which is deduced from the first statement.
vīsne igitur tē īnspiciāmus ā puerō? sīc opīnor; ā prīncipiō ōrdiāmur, Ph. 2, 44, would you like to have us look into your record from boyhood? Yes, I think it would be well; let us begin at the beginning. quī dīligēbant hunc, illī favēbant. sīc est volgus: ex vēritāte pauca, ex opīniōne multa aestimat, RC. 29, everybody who loved him, smiled on the other man. Yes, that is always the way of the world: it seldom judges by truth, often by hearsay.
[NOUNS OF THE VERB.]
[THE INFINITIVE.]
[2160.] The infinitive is in its origin a verbal substantive.
[2161.] The present infinitive active is an ancient dative, closely resembling in meaning and use the English infinitive with to. It originally marked action merely in a general way, without indication of voice or tense. In virtue of this original timeless character, the present often represents action which is really past or future; in such cases the time must be inferred from the context.