If life remains, I shall go back to the tavern by Hafiz

Painting by Ron Di Scenz

If life remains, I shall go back to the tavern
by Hafiz
(1320 - 1389)
English version by
Bernard Lewis

If life remains, I shall go back to the tavern
and do no other work than serve the revelers.
Happy day when, with streaming eyes,
I shall go again to sprinkle the tavern floor.
There is no knowledge among these folk,
Suffer me, God, to offer my jewel of self to another buyer.
If the Friend has gone, rejecting the claim of old friendship,
God forbid I should go and look for another friend.
If the turn of the heavenly wheel favor me
I shall find some other craft to bring him back.

My soul seeks wholeness, if that be permitted
by his wanton glance and bandit tresses.
See our guarded secret, a ballad sung
with drum and flute at the gate of another bazaar.
Every moment I sigh in sorrow, for fate, every hour
strikes at my wounded heart with another torment.
Yet truly I say: Hafiz is not alone in this plight;
So many others were swallowed in the desert.

Lover's Gifts II: Come to My Garden Walk by Rabindranath Tagore

Richard Johnson Painting

Lover's Gifts II: Come to My Garden Walk
Rabindranath Tagore

Come to my garden walk, my love. Pass by the fervid flowers that press themselves on your sight. Pass them by, stopping at some chance joy, which like a sudden wonder of sunset illumines, yet elude.
For lover's gift is shy, it never tells its name, it flits across the shade, spreading a shiver of joy along the dust.
Overtake it or miss it for ever. But a gift that can be grasped is merely a frail flower, or a lamp with flame that will flicker.

Chain Of Pearls by Rabindranath Tagore

Adolphe William Bouguereau painting

Chain Of Pearls
Rabindranath Tagore

Mother, I shall weave a chain of pearls for thy neck
with my tears of sorrow.

The stars have wrought their anklets of light to deck thy feet,
but mine will hang upon thy breast.

Wealth and fame come from thee
and it is for thee to give or to withhold them.
But this my sorrow is absolutely mine own,
and when I bring it to thee as my offering
thou rewardest me with thy grace.

Dante's Prayer by Loreena McKennitt

Dante's Prayer by Loreena McKennitt
Adapted From Dante's Inferno

When the dark wood fell before me
And all the paths were overgrown
When the priests of pride say
there is no other way
I tilled the sorrows of stone

I did not believe because I could not see
Though you came to me in the night
When the dawn seemed forever lost
You showed me your love in
the light of the stars

Cast your eyes on the ocean
Cast your soul to the sea
When the dark night seems endless
Please remember me

Then the mountain rose before me
By the deep well of desire
From the fountain of forgiveness
Beyond the ice and fire

Cast your eyes on the ocean
Cast your soul to the sea
When the dark night seems endless
Please remember me

Though we share this humble path, alone
How fragile is the heart
Oh give these clay feet wings to fly
To touch the face of the stars

Breathe life into this feeble heart
Lift this mortal veil of fear
Take these crumbled hopes, etched with tears
We'll rise above these earthly cares

Cast your eyes on the ocean
Cast your soul to the sea
When the dark night seems endless
Please remember me
Please remember me

Forgiveness quotes

Forgiving does not erase the bitter past. A healed memory is not a deleted memory. Instead, forgiving what we cannot forget creates a new way to remember. We change the memory of our past into a hope for our future.
Louis B. Smedes

We are all on a life long journey and the core of its meaning, the terrible demand of its centrality is forgiving and being forgiven.
Martha Kilpatrick

Forgiveness doesn't make the other person right, it makes you free.
Stormie Omartian

The Blessing Of The Apaches by Author Unknown

Lee Bogle art

The Blessing Of The Apaches
Author Unknown

Now you will feel no rain,
For each of you will be shelter to the other.
Now you will feel no cold,
For each of you will be warmth to the other.
Now there is no more lonliness for you,
For each of you will be companion to the other.
Now you are two bodies,
But there is only one life before you.
Go now to your dwelling place,
To enter into the days of your togetherness.
And may your days be good and long upon the earth.

Somewhere There Waiteth by Sir Edwin Arnold

Danielle Richard painting

Somewhere There Waiteth
Sir Edwin Arnold

Somewhere there waiteth in this world of ours
For one lone soul another lonely soul,
Each choosing each through all the weary hours,
And meeting strangely at one sudden goal,
Then blend they, like green leaves with golden flowers,
Into one beautiful and perfect whole;
And life's long night is ended, and the way
Lies open onward to eternal day.

Desiderata Van Max Ehrmann/Duch/prachtige tekst over het leven

Desiderata
Max Ehrmann

Wees kalm temidden van het lawaai en de haast,en bedenk welk een vrede er in de stilte kan heersen. Sta op goede voet met alle mensen, zonder jezelf geweld aan te doen.

Zeg je waarheid rustig en duidelijk; en luister naar anderen; ook zij vertellen hun verhaal. Mijd luidruchtige en agressieve mensen, zij belasten de geest.

Wannneer je je met andere vergelijkt, zou je ijdel en verbitterd kunnen worden, want er zullen altijd grotere en kleine mensen zijn dan jij zelf.

Geniet zowel van wat je hebt bereikt, als van je plannen. Blijf belangstelling houden voor je eigen werk, hoe nederig dat ook moge zijn; het is een werkelijk bezit in het veranderlijke fortuin van de tijd.

Betracht voorzichtigheid bij het zaken doen; want de tijd is vol bedrog, maar laat je niet verblinden voor de bestaande deugd; vele mensen streven hoge idealen na; en overal is het leven vol heldendom. Wees jezelf.

Veins vooral geen genegenheid. Maar wees evenmin cynisch over de liefde, want bij alle dorheid en ontevredenheid is zij eeuwig als gras.

Volg de loop der jaren met gratie, verlang niet naar een tijd die achter je ligt. kweek geestkracht aan om bij onverwachte tegenslag beschermd te zijn. Maar verdriet je niet met spookbeelden. Vele angsten worden uit vermoeidheid en eenzaamheid geboren.

Leg jezelf een gezonde discipline op, maar wees daarbij lief voor jezelf. Je bent een kind van het heelal, niet minder dan de bomen of sterren, je hebt het recht hier te zijn.

En ook al is het je wel of niet duidelijk, toch ontvouwt het heelal zoch zoals het zich ontvouwt en zo is het goed. Heb daarom vrede met God, hoe je ook denkt dat Hij moge zijn, en wat je werk en aspiraties ook mogen zijn, houd vrede met je ziel in de lawaaierige verwarring van het leven.

Met al zijn klatergoud, somberheid en vervlogen dromen is dit toch nog een prachtige wereld. Wees voorzichtig. Streef naar geluk.

Crédo pour la vie Texte de: Nancy Sims

Crédo pour la vie
Texte de: Nancy Sims

Ne te sous-estime pas en te comparant aux autres.
C’est précisément parce que nous sommes tous différents
que nous sommes tous uniques.

Ne fixe pas tes buts en fonction des autres.
Toi seul sais ce qui est bon pour toi.

Sois toujours à l’écoute
De tes plus profonds désirs.

Tiens à eux comme tu tiens à la vie,
Car sans eux, la vie n’est rien.

Ne laisse pas la vie filer entre tes doigts
En songeant au passé ou en rêvant à l’avenir.

Vis ta vie jour après jour,
Et tu vivras ainsi intensément
Chaque jour de ta vie.

Ne baisse pas les bras tant que tu as encore
Quelque chose à donner.

Rien n’est jamais perdu
Tant que tu continues à lutter.

N’aie pas peur d’admettre que tu n’es pas parfait.
C’est ce lien fragile
Qui nous relie les uns aux autres.

Le meilleur moyen de trouver l’amour
Est de le donner;
Le meilleur moyen de le perdre
Est de le retenir prisonnier;
Et le meilleur moyen de le garder
est de lui donner des ailes.

N’étouffe pas tes rêves.
Ne pas avoir de rêve, c’est être sans espoir;
N’écarte pas l’amour de ta vie en prétendant quel n'existe pas...
Être sans espoir, c’est errer sans but.

Ne fuis pas en avant tout au long de ta vie de sorte
que tu oublies d’où tu viens et où tu vas.

La vie n’est pas une course,
Mais un voyage dont il faut savoir goûter chaque étape.

La vie est faite de petits bonheurs qu’il faut savoir
apprécier en tout temps.

Quote on Nature,senses and soul by Jean Jacques Rousseau

As evening approached, I came down from the heights of the island, and I liked then to go and sit on the shingle in some secluded spot by the lake; there the noise of the waves and the movement of the water, taking hold of my senses and driving all other agitation from my soul, would plunge me into delicious reverie in which night often stole upon me unawares.

Jean Jacques Rousseau

Inspiring quotes on Nature Mysticism by Vivian Elisabeth Glyck,Charlene Spretnak

Follow the wisdom provided by nature. Everything in moderation - sunlight, water, nutrients. Too much of a good thing will topple your structure. You can't harvest what you don't sow. So plant your desires, gently nurture them, and they will be rewarded with abundance.
Vivian Elisabeth Glyck

There are sacred moments in life when we experience in rational and very direct ways that separation, the boundary between ourselves and other people and between ourselves and Nature, is illusion. Oneness is reality. We can experience that stasis is illusory and that reality is continual flux and change on very subtle and also on gross levels of perception...
Charlene Spretnak

Inspiring quotes on Virtue and justice by Miguel de Cervantes

Make virtue the medium of all your actions, and you will have no cause to envy those whose birth gives them the title of great men and princes; for nobility is inherited, but virtue acquired: and virtue is worth more in itself than nobleness of birth.
Miguel de Cervantes,Don Quixote

Do not revile with words those whom their crimes oblige you to punish. For the punishment is enough to the wretches, without the addition of ill language. In the trial of criminals, consider as much as you can without prejudice to the plaintiff, how defenseless and open the miserable are to the temptations of our corrupt and depraved nature, and to that extent show yourself full of pity and clemency.
Miguel de Cervantes,Don Quixote

Caroline by James Russell Lowell

Konrad Kiessel painting
CAROLINE
by James Russell Lowell

A staidness sobers o'er her pretty face,
Which something but ill-hidden in her eyes,
And a quaint look about her lips denies;
A lingering love of girlhood you can trace
In her checked laugh and half-restrained pace;
And, when she bears herself most womanly,
It seems as if a watchful mother's eye
Kept down with sobering glance her childish grace:
Yet oftentimes her nature gushes free
As water long held back by little hands,
Within a pump, and let forth suddenly,
Until, her task remembering, she stands
A moment silent, smiling doubtfully,
Then laughs aloud and scorns her hated bands.

Inspiring quotes on Respect,self respect

Nydia Lozano painting

The bond that links your true family is not one of blood, but of respect and joy in each other's life. Rarely do members of one family grow up under the same roof.
Richard Bach

You should respect each other and refrain from disputes; you should not, like water and oil, repel each other, but should, like milk and water, mingle together.
Buddha

They cannot take away our self-respect if
we do not give it to them.
Mohandas K. Gandhi

We confide in our strength, without boasting of it; we respect that of others, without fearing it.
Thomas Jefferson

Eternity quote by CHARLES WAGNER

Man passes; he knows that he is dust; nothing is more evident than his frailty. If he should for a single moment forget it, what a chorus of voices would recall it to him! And yet, in the drop of existence which he absorbs, he takes in ages through memory and ages through presentiment. In the moments as they pass, he dimly sees eternity, and more than this, he possesses it by anticipation.
CHARLES WAGNER

Insightful and inspiring love quotes by Robert G. Ingersoll,G W Hegel,Theodore I Rubin ,Robert Louis Stevenson,Thomas Merton

Music:
FREDERIC DELARUE - Ballet of Light

Love is the only bow on Life's dark cloud. It is the morning and the evening star. It shines upon the babe, and sheds its radiance on the quiet tomb. It is the mother of art, inspirer of poet, patriot and philosopher. It is the air and light of every heart — builder of every home, kindler of every fire on every hearth. It was the first to dream of immortality. It fills the world with melody — for music is the voice of love. Love is the magician, the enchanter, that changes worthless things to Joy, and makes royal kings and queens of common clay. It is the perfume of that wondrous flower, the heart, and without that sacred passion, that divine swoon, we are less than beasts; but with it, earth is heaven.
Robert G. Ingersoll

This is love. I have my self-consciousness not in myself but in the other. I am satisfied and have peace with myself only in this other and I AM only because I have peace with myself; if I did not have it then I would be a contradiction that falls to pieces. This other, because it likewise exists outside itself, has its self-consciousness only in me; and both the other and I are only this consciousness of being-outside-ourselves and of our identity; we are only this intuition, feeling, and knowledge of our unity. This is love, and without knowing that love is both a distinguishing and the sublation of this distinction, one speaks emptily of it.
Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel

I must learn to love the fool in me—the one who feels too much, talks too much, takes too many chances, wins sometimes and loses often, lacks self-control, loves and hates, hurts and gets hurt, promises and breaks promises, laughs and cries. It alone protects me against that utterly self-controlled, masterful tyrant whom I also harbor and who would rob me of human aliveness, humility and dignity but for my fool.
Dr Theodore I Rubin

Adrian Gottlieb Art

Falling in love is the one illogical adventure, the one thing of which we are tempted to think as supernatural, in our trite and reasonable world. The effect is out of all proportion with the cause. Two persons, neither of them, it may be, very amiable or very beautiful, meet, speak a little, and look a little into each other's eyes. That has been done a dozen or so of times in the experience of either with no great result. But on this occasion all is different. They fall at once into that state in which another person becomes to us the very gist and centrepoint of God's creation, and demolishes our laborious theories with a smile; in which our ideas are so bound up with the one master-thought that even the trivial cares of our own person become so many acts of devotion, and the love of life itself is translated into a wish to remain in the same world with so precious and desirable a fellow-creature.
Robert Louis Stevenson

The beginning of love is the will to let those we love be perfectly themselves, the resolution not to twist them to fit our own image. If in loving them we do not love what they are, but only their potential likeness to ourselves, then we do not love them: we only love the reflection of ourselves we find in them.
Thomas Merton, No Man Is an Island

Our job is to love others without stopping to inquire whether or not they are worthy. That is not our business and, in fact, it is nobody's business. What we are asked to do is to love, and this love itself will render both ourselves and our neighbors worthy.
Thomas Merton

Quotes on beauty and soul

Every beauty which is seen here below by persons of perception resemble more than anything else that celestial source from which we all are come....
Michelangelo

Heaven will be inherited by every man who has heaven in his soul.
Henry Ward Beecher

It is a wholesome and necessary thing for us to turn again to the earth and in the contemplation of her beauties to know of wonder and humility.
Rachel Carson

Those things that nature denied to human sight, she revealed to the eyes of the soul.
Ovid

Nature quote by Ann Radcliffe

At first a small line of inconceivable splendour emerged on the horizon, which, quickly expanding, the sun appeared in all of his glory, unveiling the whole face of nature, vivifying every colour of the landscape, and sprinkling the dewy earth with glittering light.
Ann Radcliffe

Inspiring Happiness quotes by Friedrich Nietzsche,George Santayana , Don Marquis

We should consider every day lost on which we have not danced at least once. And we should call every truth false which was not accompanied by at least one laugh.
Friedrich Nietzsche

it is better to be happy for a moment and be burned up with beauty than to live a long time and be bored all the while Don Marquis

A string of excited, fugitive, miscellaneous pleasures is not happiness; happiness resides in imaginative reflection and judgment, when the picture of one's life, or of human life, as it truly has been or is, satisfies the will, and is gladly accepted. George Santayana

Inspiring quotes on mind

Whatever an enemy might do to an enemy, or a foe to a foe, the ill-directed mind can do to you even worse. Whatever a mother, father or other kinsman might do for you, the well-directed mind can do for you even better.
Buddha

Measure your mind's height by the shade it casts.
Robert Browning

Great minds discuss ideas; Average minds discuss events; Small minds discuss people.
Eleanor Roosevel

You can chain me, you can torture me, you can even destroy this body, but you will never imprison my mind.
Mahatma Gandhi

Mind quote by Arthur Conan Doyl

My mind," he said, "rebels at stagnation. Give me problems, give me work, give me the most abstruse cryptogram or the most intricate analysis, and I am in my own proper atmosphere. I can dispense then with artificial stimulants. But I abhor the dull routine of existence. I crave for mental exaltation. That is why I have chosen my own particular profession, or rather created it, for I am the only one in the world.”
Arthur Conan Doyle, The Sign of Four

Flowers by James Russell Lowell

Michael and Inessa Garmash painting

Flowers
James Russell Lowell

O poet! above all men blest,
Take heed that thus thou store them;
Love, Hope, and Faith shall ever rest,
Sweet birds (upon how sweet a nest!)
Watchfully brooding o'er them.

And from those flowers of Paradise
Scatter thou many a blessed seed,
Wherefrom an offspring may arise
To cheer the hearts and light the eyes
Of after-voyagers in their need.

They shall not fall on stony ground,
But, yielding all their hundred-fold,
Shall shed a peacefulness around,
Whose strengthening joy may not be told!
So shall thy name be blest of all,
And thy remembrance never die;
For of that seed shall surely fall
In the fair garden of Eternity,

Exult then m the nobleness
Of this thy work so holy,
Yet be not thou one jot the less
Humble and meek and lowly,
But let throe exultation be
The reverence of a bended knee;

And by thy life a poem write,
Built strongly day by day—
on the rock of Truth and Right
Its deep foundations lay.

Inner peace quote by Peace Pilgrim

There is a criterion by which you can judge whether the thoughts you are thinking and the things you are doing are right for you. The criterion is: Have they brought you inner peace? If they have not, there is something wrong with them / so keep seeking! If what you do has brought you inner peace, stay with what you believe is right.
Peace Pilgrim

Peace and love quote by Maíread Maguire

We frail humans are at one time capable of the greatest good and, at the same time, capable of the greatest evil. Change will only come about when each of us takes up the daily struggle ourselves to be more forgiving, compassionate, loving, and above all joyful in the knowledge that, by some miracle of grace, we can change as those around us can change too.
Maíread Maguire

The awakening by Thomas Merton

When we are alone on a starlit night, when by chance we see the migrating birds in autumn descending on a grove of junipers to rest and eat; when we see children in a moment when they are really children, when we know love in our own hearts; or when, like the Japanese poet, Basho, we hear an old frog land in a quiet pond with a solitary splash - at such times the awakening, the turning inside out of all values, the "newness," the emptiness and the purity of vision that make themselves evident, all these provide a glimpse of the cosmic dance.
Thomas Merton

Becoming Human by Hafiz

Konrad Kiessel Painting

BECOMING HUMAN
Hafiz
Translated by Daniel Ladinsky

Once a man came to me and spoke for hours about
"His great visions of God" he felt he was having.

He asked me for confirmation, saying,
"Are these wondrous dreams true?"

I replied, "How many goats do you have?"

He looked surprised and said,
"I am speaking of sublime visions
And you ask
About goats!"

And I spoke again saying,
"Yes, brother - how many do you have?"
"Well, Hafiz, I have sixty-two."

"And how many wives
How many rose bushes in your garden,
How many children,
Are your parents still alive,
Do you feed the birds in winter?"

And to all he answered.

Then I said,
"You asked me if I thought your visions were true,
I would say that they were if they make you become
More human,

More kind to every creature and plant
That you know."

I Remember You As You Were by Pablo Neruda

Leonid Afremov Art

I Remember You As You Were
Pablo Neruda

I remember you as you were in the last autumn.
You were the grey beret and the still heart.
In your eyes the flames of the twilight fought on.
And the leaves fell in the water of your soul.

Clasping my arms like a climbing plant
the leaves garnered your voice, that was slow and at peace.
Bonfire of awe in which my thirst was burning.
Sweet blue hyacinth twisted over my soul.

I feel your eyes traveling, and the autumn is far off:
Grey beret, voice of a bird, heart like a house
Towards which my deep longings migrated
And my kisses fell, happy as embers.

Sky from a ship. Field from the hills:
Your memory is made of light, of smoke, of a still pond!
Beyond your eyes, farther on, the evenings were blazing.
Dry autumn leaves revolved in your soul.

The feeling of being at sea by Steve Callahan/Sea Quote

I wish I could describe the feeling of being at sea, the anguish, frustration, and fear, the beauty that accompanies threatening spectacles, the spiritual communion with creatures in whose domain I sail. There is a magnificent intensity in life that comes when we are not in control but are only reacting, living, surviving. I am not a religious man per se. But for me, to go to sea is to glimpse the face of God. At sea i am reminded of my insignificance- of all men's insignificance. It is a wonderful feeling to be so humbled.
Steve Callahan

Quotes on Lavender,roses and nature

The air was fragrant with a thousand trodden aromatic herbs, with fields of lavender, and with the brightest roses blushing in tufts all over the meadows...
William Cullen Bryant

And lavender, whose spikes of azure bloom shall be, ere-while, in arid bundles bound to lurk admist the labours of her loom, and crown her kerchiefs witl mickle rare perfume.
William Shenstone

There's a few things I've learned in life: always throw salt over your left shoulder, keep rosemary by your garden gate, plant lavender for good luck, and fall in love whenever you can.
Alice Hoffman

Dr. Seuss quotes on life,Nonsense and Humor

When you think things are bad,
when you feel sour and blue,
when you start to get mad...
you should do what I do!
Just tell yourself, Duckie,
you're really quite lucky!
Some people are much more...
oh, ever so much more...
oh, muchly much-much more
unlucky than you!
Dr. Seuss

I like nonsense, it wakes up the brain cells. Fantasy is a necessary ingredient in living. It's a way of looking at life through the wrong end of a telescope, which is what I do, and that enables you to laugh at life's realities.
Dr. Seuss

Nonsense wakes up the brain cells. And it helps develop a sense of humor, which is awfully important in this day and age. Humor has a tremendous place in this sordid world. It's more than just a matter of laughing. If you can see things out of whack, then you can see how things can be in whack. Dr. Seuss

A Poet's Voice by Khalil Gibran/Part One and Two

A Poet's Voice
Khalil Gibran
Part One

Artist Richard Johnson

Music:
Adam Hurst-Sparrow


The power of charity sows deep in my heart,and I reap and gather the wheat in bundles and give them to the hungry.
My soul gives life to the grapevine and I press its bunches and give the juice to the thirsty.
Heaven fills my lamp with oil and I place it at my window to direct the stranger through the dark.

I do all these things because I live in them; and if destiny should tie my hands and prevent me from so doing, then death would be my only desire. For I am a poet, and if I cannot give, I shall refuse to receive.

Humanity rages like a tempest, but I sigh in silence for I know the storm must pass away while a sigh goes to God.
Human kinds cling to earthly things, but I seek ever to embrace the torch of love so it will purify me by its fire and sear inhumanity from my heart.
Substantial things deaden a man without suffering; love awakens him with enlivening pains.

Humans are divided into different clans and tribes, and belong to countries and towns. But I find myself a stranger to all communities and belong to no settlement. The universe is my country and the human family is my tribe.
Men are weak, and it is sad that they divide amongst themselves. The world is narrow and it is unwise to cleave it into kingdoms, empires, and provinces.

Human kinds unite themselves one to destroy the temples of the soul, and they join hands to build edifices for earthly bodies. I stand alone listening to the voice of hope in my deep self saying, “As love enlivens a man’s heart with pain, so ignorance teaches him the way of knowledge.”
Pain and ignorance lead to great joy and knowledge because the Supreme Being has created nothing vain under the sun.

A Poet's Voice
Khalil Gibran
Part Two

Artist Andrew Atroshenko

I have a yearning for my beautiful country, and I love its people because of their misery. But if my people rose, stimulated by plunder and motivated by what they call “patriotic spirit” to murder, and invaded my neighbour’s country, then upon the committing of any human atrocity I would hate my people and my country.

I sing the praise of my birthplace and long to see the home of my children; but if the people in that home refused to shelter and feed the needy wayfarer, I would convert my praise into anger and my longing to forgetfulness. My inner voice would say, “The house that does not comfort the need is worthy of naught by destruction.”

I love my native village with some of my love for my country; and I love my country with part of my love for the earth, all of which is my country; and I love the earth will all of myself because it is the haven of humanity, the manifest spirit of God.

Humanity is the spirit of the Supreme Being on earth, and that humanity is standing amidst ruins, hiding its nakedness behind tattered rags, shedding tears upon hollow cheeks, and calling for its children with pitiful voice. But the children are busy singing their clan’s anthem; they are busy sharpening the swords and cannot hear the cry of their mothers.

Humanity appeals to its people but they listen not. Were one to listen, and console a mother by wiping her tears, other would say, “He is weak, affected by sentiment.”

Humanity is the spirit of the Supreme Being on earth, and that Supreme Being preaches love and good-will. But the people ridicule such teachings. The Nazarene Jesus listened, and crucifixion was his lot; Socrates heard the voice and followed it, and he too fell victim in body. The followers of The Nazarene and Socrates are the followers of Deity, and since people will not kill them, they deride them, saying,
“Ridicule is more bitter than killing.”

Jerusalem could not kill The Nazarene, nor Athens Socrates; they are living yet and shall live eternally. Ridicule cannot triumph over the followers of Deity. They live and grow forever.