Some verbs may be followed by a gerund if they are describing an "actual, vivid or fulfilled action" (Frodesen); "cease" is one of this verbs. Probably your preference stems from this.
Also, 'begin' and 'commence' may be followed by a gerund if they are describing an "actual, vivid or fulfilled action" (Frodesen).
The following verbs can be followed by either an infinitive or a gerund, but there will be a difference in meaning. I stopped smoking means something quite different, for instance, from I stopped to smoke. The infinitive form will usually describe a potential action.
First of all, you are wrong. Gerunds and infinitives are not time dependent and could be used in the present, past or future.
That said, the use of gerund v. infinitive is an important topic and is often difficult to tell when to use one over the other, as it would depend on the context and intention of the writer.
Sometimes, they could be used interchangeably with little or no difference in meaning. While other times that may not be the case. I will lay down the general rules and leave it up to you to decide when to use one over the other.
1. With little or no difference in meaning
It started to rain v. It started raining. There is no difference in meaning. They both more or less mean the same thing, but if you want to get picky, the gerund form focuses on the continuation of the action while the other one focuses on the action or result of the action in general.
2. With difference in meaning
I remembered to do my homework v. I remembered doing my homework. In the first one you remembered first, then did your homework; while in the second one you did the homework first and then remembered doing it.[Again not a big difference but still an important one]
I stopped smoking v. I stopped to smoke. In the first one the action is real, it happened and you stopped doing it. While in the second one, you stopped something else to do the smoking; it hadn't happened yet.1
Now, as I said, the general rule to use one over the other will depend on the context, but gerunds are usually used for actions that are real, completed, or concrete while infinitives are used for actions that are unreal, abstract, or future.2
Best Answer
None of them are incorrect.
English sense verbs, unlike most complement-taking verbs,
can take either gerund or infinitive complements.
This is most common with long-distance senses, of course;
-- She smelled him leaving is a fairly unlikely (though not ungrammatical) thing to say.
It may be (and undoubtedly some people interpret it this way, though others don't)
that
means something like (and may be a variant of)
while
means something like
Not a whole lot of difference here, and for all intensive purposes they're synonymous.