VIR-III-0050
“They overpaid me by a lot and I returned it without saying anything.”
It was their error, the amount was real, and the odds of them catching it were low. You sent it back quietly, not for thanks, just because it wasn't yours. Doing right with money no one would miss is the cleanest integrity there is. You kept something worth more than the cash: a conscience with nothing on it.
Your Practice
- Notice you returned what wasn't yours with no expectation of credit.
- Don't fish for gratitude. The rightness is the whole reward.
- Apply the same reflex to every windfall that isn't truly yours.
- Let the clear conscience be the asset you protect above the money.
The Architects
“A good conscience is a continual Christmas.”
— Benjamin Franklin, Poor Richard's Almanack