virtue is its own reward
Proposed by a contributor, not yet supported by evidence.
Meaning · English
Doing good is rewarding in itself
Where it’s used:
Used
Widespread English
Sources & notes
Listed on Wikipedia “List of proverbial phrases” (CC BY-SA 4.0, retrieved 2026-07-29); definition pending editorial review. Definition drafted by AI (@cf/meta/llama-3.3-70b-instruct-fp8-fast) and auto-approved by rule on 2026-07-30; pending editor spot-check.
Common questions
What does “virtue is its own reward” mean?
Doing good is rewarding in itself
Is “virtue is its own reward” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.