In pursuance of name and fame, and goaded by the applause of the expectant multitude, people have given their lives for a great cause, for their honor, their religion, their country. Even cowards have given up their lives under a sudden impulse, or on an uncontrollable provocation. Such a death is a matter of a few seconds.

But to lose one's life is to die by inches. Every second, one suffers the poignant pain of ego elimination, culminating in utter resignation to the Divine Will. This dying can only be the lot of heroes, and they are very few indeed.