"Virtue knows to a farthing what it has lost by not having been vice"

This quote by Horace Walpole speaks with the idea that merit understands the price of not having actually been vice. In other words, merit understands the potential benefits that might have been gotten by engaging in vice. This suggests that virtue is not only aware of the ethical cost of not having actually been vice, yet also the possible product as well as social benefits that can have been gotten. This quote suggests that merit is not just a moral option, however likewise a sensible one. It suggests that virtue is aware of the possible incentives that could have been gained by engaging in vice, and that it is a conscious decision to give up those incentives in favor of an ethical path. This quote talks to the idea that virtue is an aware choice, and that it recognizes the potential rewards that could have been acquired by taking part in vice.