Martyrdom: The Ultimate Performance Art

"Art reaches perfection when it portrays the best life and the best death.  After all, art tells us how to live. That is the essence of art.  Is there art that is more beautiful, more divine, and more eternal than the art of martyrdom?  A nation with martyrdom knows no captivity.  Those who wish to undermine this principle undermine the foundations of our independence and national security.  They undermine the foundation of our eternity."

--Iranian President Mahmoud  Ahmadinejad