She says that 'virtue' is its own reward. [=that if you do good things, you do not need to be rewarded with money, fame, etc.]
When he lost his driver's license, he 'made a virtue out of necessity' and got in shape by riding his bike to work.
His supporters regard him as a model/paragon of 'virtue'. [=as a person who has no moral faults]
(..) and he wants something more. Then he and I are on equal ground. Yes, but you're much closer to it than he is. Look, if this was , years ago, by virtue of his size and strength, Kurt would be entitled to his choice of female partners. And male partners, animal partners, large primordial eggplants-- (..)2007 TvShow: The Big Bang Theory Title: The Middle Earth Paradigm Season: 1 Episode 6