"Yes, if you want to say that I was a drum major. Say that I
was a drum major for justice. Say that I was a drum major
for peace. Say that I was a drum major for righteousness.
And all of the other shallow things will not matter. I won't
have any money to leave behind. I won't have the fine and
luxurious things in life to leave behind. But I just want to
leave a committed life behind. And that's all I want to say.
If I can help somebody as I pass along, if I can cheer
somebody with a word or song, if I can show somebody he
is traveling wrong, then my living will not be in vain."
Excerpted from "The Drum Major Instinct", a sermon by
Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr., 1968. Available on CD and
print in A Knock At Midnight: Inspiration from the Great
Sermons of Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr.
From The King Center website:
http://www.thekingcenter.com