Meditações - "Eternity" is a negative idea, clothed with a positive name

"Eternity" is a negative idea, clothed with a positive name. It supposes, in that to which it is applied, a present existence; and is the negation of a beginning or an end of that existence.

William Paley (Natural Theology. 12th edition. J. Faulder: London, 1809, Chapter XXIV, p. 447)