What are your thoughts on "I'd rather die than [X]!"

Not long ago I got into a spat with a friend about a completely hypothetical situation. They asserted that they would rather die than submit to a tyrannical government that forced them into a slave labor camp for the good of society. The thing that really set me off was the fact that they were totally serious. They were 100% willing to die for the cause of freedom if they were put into that situation. Savagely put, I responded by saying "Great, you'll happily martyr yourself. Do you think that your sacrifice will actually accomplish anything compared to your survival and freedom?"<br><br>I think that my point is best made by bringing up the French Resistance. One of the most revered resistance groups, the group Jeunesses Chretiennes said this:<br><br>"We must not let ourselves be swept into the maelstrom of hatred and violence"<br><br>-"While no doubt deaths in battle for a great cause are preferable to voluntary sacrifice, there are nonetheless moments when the voluntary sacrifice of a soldier for the cause of the nation is more beautiful and more strong than a long and glorious combat"<br><br>So these people understood the value of a sacrifice, but they were also working tirelessly towards a better society. And that's the main point, the only people who are remembered are the leaders who really did something to advance the cause. I'm sure there were thousands of other people who died in resistance battles, who were working towards the same goal as the iconic leaders. Who remembers them? <br><br>I'm sure there were countless men and women who died in the process and were completely forgotten by history. To die for a cause such as this is fine, but you should do so in the full understanding that your sacrifice will likely be forgotten. You won't be Cassius Clay in the early days of the civil war, who freed all his slaves and became a vocal advocate because of his moral code. You won't be the leader of a group that spearheads a massive change in society. You will die.<br><br>What does that accomplish? The only sacrifices that actually mattered were the ones that weren't really sacrifices at all. Sacrifices that were survivable. These are the people who actually changed history, not the ones that died in the name of it.<br><br>What do you think? Am I off base, or are my thoughts similar to yours?