Time is fleeting.

In the Battle of Thermopylae of 480 BC an alliance of Greek city-states fought the invading Persian army in the mountain pass of Thermopylae. Vastly outnumbered, the Greeks delayed the enemy in one of the most famous last stands of history. A small force led by King Leonidas of Sparta blocked the only road through which the massive army of Xerxes I could pass. After several days of confrontation, the Persians attacked and defeated the Greeks but sustained heavy losses, disproportionate to those sustained by the Greeks. A local resident named Ephialtes betrayed the Greeks, revealing a mountain path that led behind the Greek lines. With the rest of the army dismissed, King Leonidas stayed behind, with his guard of 300 Spartans and 700 Thespian volunteers. Though they knew it meant their deaths, they allowed the rest of the Greeks to escape.

The significance of the Thespians' refusal to leave should not be ignored. The Spartans, as brave as their sacrifice indubitably was, were professional soldiers, trained from birth to be ready to give their lives in combat as Spartan law dictated. Conversely, the Thespians were citizen-soldiers (Demophilus, for example, made his living as an architect) who elected to add whatever they could to the fight, rather than allow the Spartans to be annihilated alone. Though their bravery is often overlooked by history, it was most certainly not overlooked by the Spartans, who are said to have exchanged cloaks with the Thespians and promised to be allies for eternity.
-http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Thermopylae

But in these few hours of limitless joy, we feel more than most do in a lifetime. The thousand men are a single axe. I believe I could leap into the void. I would be completed and overwhelmed. Leave this world while it still holds sweetness.