Quoting Mr. Russell, #2

"...it is said he died by leaping into the crater of Etna to prove that he was a god. In the words of the poet: 

    Great Empedocles, that ardent soul
    Leapt into Etna, and was roasted whole."

Bertrand Russell doesn't tell you who that poet is that he's quoting but it seems the poet is...Bertrand Russell.

As for Empedocles (if the legend's true) his thought might have been, well, hey, it worked for Heracles...