Original artwork, not a still
Moral Maxims and Reflections, no. 201
Virtue would not make such advances if there were not a little vanity to keep it company.
Behind the line
What it means
Our interpretation.
A wry suggestion that goodness gets a lot of its momentum from wanting to be admired. Virtue is pictured as a traveller who moves forward more eagerly with vanity as a companion. It's a sly way of saying that even our best behaviour is rarely completely pure in motive.
Context reviewed
