That's a famous quote from Franz Kafka.
if none observe me, I have to observe myself all the closer.
Answer
None can be singular or plural, depending on what it is referring to.
Here it is referring to "the people". A fuller reading of the quote might be:
if none of the people observe me, I have to observe myself all the closer.
The people is plural, and so takes the plural verb observe.
It should be pointed out that it's not so much about a hard-and-fast rule but about clarity. If you’re wanting to emphasise “not any amongst many” as in the above example then you should use the plural to make this emphasis clear. There’s a good discussion of notional agreement here http://dictionary.reference.com/help/faq/language/g11.html
ODO's usage section isn't quite as explicit, but does mention it depends on the emphasis needed http://oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/none
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