imagine that a spell of anonymity is cast on…

Page 114 keyword anonymity imagine that a spell of anonymity is cast on you. For the rest of your life and beyond, no one will know about the wonderful things that you are doing in this world. You will continue to have daily interactions with your friends but no matter what you do, they will all think that you are working with some mundane job that it has no impact on other people's lives. You can do great deeds, you can help the elderly, but no one will know that it was you who did those things. You can become the wealthiest person in the world but you will not be able to flaunt your wealth. No one will thank you, no one will appreciate your work, and no one will remind you how significant a life you are living, no one will know how rich you are. You and you alone will know how good you are. And such a world, what would you do? What past professional and personal would you take?

— from Who Is Flying (Self, Nature & Nurture)

In the book

And here is the deepest test of that self, the one I most want you to keep. The truest measure of a person's character is what he would do if a spell of perfect anonymity were cast over him — if he knew for certain he would never be caught and never be credited. The self that does right with no audience at all is the only self worth becoming. — Who Is Flying (Self, Nature & Nurture)

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