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There is a further difficulty about the motions of the parts of
the heavens which, as akin to what has gone before, may be
considered next. For if one could overcome by force of motion the
immobility of the earth he would clearly move it away from the centre.
And it is plain that the power from which this force would originate
will not be infinite, for the earth is not infinite and therefore
its weight is not. Now there are more senses than one of the word
'impossible'. When we say it is impossible to see a sound, and when we
say it is impossible to see the men in the moon, we use two senses
of the word; the former is of necessity, the latter, though their
nature is to be seen, cannot as a fact be seen by us. Now we suppose
that the heavens are of necessity impossible to destroy and to
dissolve, whereas the result of the present argument would be to do
away with this necessity. For it is natural and possible for a
motion to exist greater than the force by dint of which the earth is
at rest, or than that by dint of which Fire and Aether are moved. If
then there are superior motions, these will be dissolved in succession
by one another: and if there actually are not, but might possibly be
(for the earth cannot be infinite because no body can possibly be
infinite), there is a possibility of the heavens being dissolved.
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