 
                            
                        
                        
                        “I am just going outside. I may be some time.”
                                        
                                        On Robert Falcon Scott's ill-fated Antarctic expedition, while suffering from frostbite and sheltering from a blizzard, Oates felt he was decreasing his companions' chances of survival. Oates voluntarily left the tent; it was his 32nd birthday. He was never seen again. 
Quoted in R. F. Scott's diary, published as Scott's Last Expedition, ch.20 
Variant: I am just going outside and may be some time. 
                                    
 
        
     
                             
                             
                             
                             
                             
                             
                             
                            