---
title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Fine dancing, I believe like virtue, must…"
description: "\"Fine dancing, I believe like virtue, must be its own reward. Those who are standing by are usually thinking of something very different.\" — Jane Austen"
image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0bc/jane-austen-39_believe_fine-dancing-i-believe-like-virtue-must_575212.jpg"
---

#  Fine dancing, I believe like virtue, must be its own…

![“Fine dancing, I believe like virtue, must be its own reward. Those who are standing by are usually thinking of something very different.” quote by Jane Austen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0bc/jane-austen-39_believe_fine-dancing-i-believe-like-virtue-must_575212.jpg)   [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0bc/jane-austen-39_believe_fine-dancing-i-believe-like-virtue-must_575212.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0bc/jane-austen-39_believe_fine-dancing-i-believe-like-virtue-must_575212.jpg)

> “Fine dancing, I believe like virtue, must be its own reward. Those who are standing by are usually thinking of something very different.”

[Jane Austen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-austen/)

## About This Quote

This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation.

Virtue is its own reward, and observers often think about unrelated matters.

**In simple terms:** Virtue rewards itself; observers are distracted.

Key Takeaway

Value actions for their intrinsic worth.

Themes

virtue reward distraction

Mood

thoughtful reflective

Type

philosophical literary

When to use this quote

- social gatherings
- personal reflection
- ethical decisions

Key Concepts

intrinsic value self‑sufficiency

Questions to Reflect On

- How does self‑reward shape behavior?
- What distractions affect moral choices?

A Different Perspective

May overlook external consequences of virtue.

★ ★ ★ ★ ★   No ratings yet

[Character](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/character/) [Dance](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dance/) [Dance music](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dance-music/) [Dancing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dancing/) [Rewards](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/rewards/) [Thinking](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thinking/) [Virtue](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/virtue/)

## Related quotes

> [Fine dancing, I believe, like virtue, must be its own reward.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-austen/fine-dancing-i-believe-like-virtue-must-be-its-own-reward/)

[Jane Austen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-austen/)

> [Stupidity, like virtue, is its own reward.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-davidsen/stupidity-like-virtue-is-its-own-reward/)

Bill Davidsen

> [Writing is simply something you must do. It's rather like virtue in that it is its own reward.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harper-lee/writing-is-simply-something-you-must-do-it-s-rather-like-virtue-in/)

[Harper Lee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harper-lee/)

> [I shall produce nothing that will offend the proprieties, whether applied to children or grownups. My pictures are turned out with clean hands and,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fatty-arbuckle/i-shall-produce-nothing-that-will-offend-the-proprieties-whether/)

Fatty Arbuckle

> [Doubt not but angling will prove to be so pleasant that it will prove to be, like virtue, a reward to itself.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/izaak-walton/doubt-not-but-angling-will-prove-to-be-so-pleasant-that-it-will-prove/)

[Izaak Walton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/izaak-walton/)

> [What is known as success assumes nearly as many aliases as there are those who seek it. Like love, it can come to commoners…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-birmingham/what-is-known-as-success-assumes-nearly-as-many-aliases-as-there-are-2/)

[Stephen Birmingham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-birmingham/)

> [Nationalism, like virtue, has its own reward.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mahatma-gandhi/nationalism-like-virtue-has-its-own-reward/)

[Mahatma Gandhi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mahatma-gandhi/)

> [Love's like virtue, its own reward.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-vanbrugh/love-s-like-virtue-its-own-reward/)

[John Vanbrugh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-vanbrugh/)

> [Love, like virtue, is its own reward.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-vanbrugh/love-like-virtue-is-its-own-reward/)

[John Vanbrugh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-vanbrugh/)

> [Light quirks of music, broken and uneven,Make the soul dance upon a jig to Heav'n.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexander-pope/light-quirks-of-music-broken-and-uneven-make-the-soul-dance-upon-a/)

[Alexander Pope](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexander-pope/)

> [Then come the lights shining on you from above. You are a performer. You forget all you learned, the process of technique, the fear,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shirley-maclaine/then-come-the-lights-shining-on-you-from-above-you-are-a-performer/)

[Shirley MacLaine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shirley-maclaine/)

> [“I'll just dance until the music stops, and see where the steps take me.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jay-kristoff/i-ll-just-dance-until-the-music-stops-and-see-where-the-steps-take-me/)

[Jay Kristoff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jay-kristoff/)

> [If you can walk, you can run.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/publilius-syrus/if-you-can-walk-you-can-run/)

[Publilius Syrus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/publilius-syrus/)

> [Dancing is moving to the music without stepping on anyone's toes, pretty much the same as life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-breault/dancing-is-moving-to-the-music-without-stepping-on-anyone-s-toes/)

[Robert Breault](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-breault/)

> [The dance is the mother of the arts. Music and poetry exist in time; painting and architecture in space. But the dance lives at…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/curt-sachs/the-dance-is-the-mother-of-the-arts-music-and-poetry-exist-in-time/)

[Curt Sachs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/curt-sachs/)

## More by Jane Austen

> [Let us have the luxury of silence.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-austen/let-us-have-the-luxury-of-silence/)

[Jane Austen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-austen/)

> [“How earnestly did she then wish that her former opinions had been more reasonable, more moderate!”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-austen/how-earnestly-did-she-then-wish-that-her-former-opinions-had-been/)

[Jane Austen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-austen/)

> [“it is very well worth-while to be tormented for two or three years of one's life, for the sake of being able to read…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-austen/it-is-very-well-worth-while-to-be-tormented-for-two-or-three-years-of/)

[Jane Austen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-austen/)

> [ “Everybody is taken in at some period or another. \[...\] In marriage especially. \[...\] There is not one in a hundred of either sex,… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-austen/everybody-is-taken-in-at-some-period-or-another-in-marriage/)

[Jane Austen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-austen/)

> [She knew that what Marianne and her mother conjectured one moment, they believed the next: that with them, to wish was to hope, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-austen/she-knew-that-what-marianne-and-her-mother-conjectured-one-moment/)

[Jane Austen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-austen/)

> [“…for I look upon the Frasers to be about as unhappy as most other married people.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-austen/for-i-look-upon-the-frasers-to-be-about-as-unhappy-as-most-other/)

[Jane Austen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-austen/)

> [“It raises my spleen more than any thing, to have the pretence of being asked, of being given a choice, and at the same…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-austen/it-raises-my-spleen-more-than-any-thing-to-have-the-pretence-of-being/)

[Jane Austen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-austen/)

> [her spirits wanted the solitude and silence which only numbers could give.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-austen/her-spirits-wanted-the-solitude-and-silence-which-only-numbers-could/)

[Jane Austen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-austen/)

> [“But in such cases as these a good memory is unpardonable.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-austen/but-in-such-cases-as-these-a-good-memory-is-unpardonable/)

[Jane Austen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-austen/)

> [“...the pleasantness of an employment does not always evince its propriety.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-austen/the-pleasantness-of-an-employment-does-not-always-evince-its-propriety/)

[Jane Austen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-austen/)

> [Such squeamish youths as cannot bear to be connected with a little absurdity are not worth a regret.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-austen/such-squeamish-youths-as-cannot-bear-to-be-connected-with-a-little/)

[Jane Austen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-austen/)

> [“I must tell you what you will not ask, though I may wish it unsaid the next moment”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-austen/i-must-tell-you-what-you-will-not-ask-though-i-may-wish-it-unsaid-the/)

[Jane Austen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-austen/)

> [“Lady Catherine seemed quite astonished at not receiving a direct answer; and Elizabeth suspected herself to be the first creature who had ever dared…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-austen/lady-catherine-seemed-quite-astonished-at-not-receiving-a-direct/)

[Jane Austen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-austen/)

> [“He had suffered, and he had learnt to think, two advantages that he had never known before…”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-austen/he-had-suffered-and-he-had-learnt-to-think-two-advantages-that-he-had/)

[Jane Austen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-austen/)

> [“Vanity was the beginning and the end of Sir Walter Eliot's character; vanity of person and of situation.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-austen/vanity-was-the-beginning-and-the-end-of-sir-walter-eliot-s-character/)

[Jane Austen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-austen/)

[Explore all 2,013 Jane Austen quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-austen/)

## More Believe quotes

> [I actually think acting is a form of self-hypnosis. You have to be hyper, hyper aware of what's going on around you. You have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julianne-moore/i-actually-think-acting-is-a-form-of-self-hypnosis-you-have-to-be/)

[Julianne Moore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julianne-moore/)

> [Some people still believe you should just fall in line with what's going on - and that's scary. It makes a mockery of freedom…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emily-robison/some-people-still-believe-you-should-just-fall-in-line-with-what-s/)

[Emily Robison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emily-robison/)

> [The truth seems to be that propaganda on its own cannot force its way into unwilling minds; neither can it inculcate something wholly new;…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-hoffer/the-truth-seems-to-be-that-propaganda-on-its-own-cannot-force-its-way/)

[Eric Hoffer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-hoffer/)

> [Resist discouragement by speaking His Word over your future. Keep standing. Keep hoping; keep believing because He is working behind the scenes. He's going…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joel-osteen/resist-discouragement-by-speaking-his-word-over-your-future-keep/)

[Joel Osteen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joel-osteen/)

> [I can't believe that I'm sitting in meetings with Steven Spielberg, Tom Hanks, and Annette Bening. I want to take on that responsibility to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roger-ross-williams/i-can-t-believe-that-i-m-sitting-in-meetings-with-steven-spielberg/)

[Roger Ross Williams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roger-ross-williams/)

> [There is no such word as item girl in the dictionary. People have created this word and I don't believe that I am an…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shefali-zariwala/there-is-no-such-word-as-item-girl-in-the-dictionary-people-have/)

[Shefali Zariwala](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shefali-zariwala/)

> [I understand that it's the music that keeps me alive... That's my lifeblood. And to give that up for, like, the TV, the cars,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bruce-springsteen/i-understand-that-it-s-the-music-that-keeps-me-alive-that-s-my/)

[Bruce Springsteen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bruce-springsteen/)

> [I don't really like too much credit. I know nobody's going to believe this, but I'd rather be able to score goals and nobody…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bradley-wright-phillips/i-don-t-really-like-too-much-credit-i-know-nobody-s-going-to-believe/)

[Bradley Wright-Phillips](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bradley-wright-phillips/)

> [“What I have a problem with is not so much religion or god, but faith. When you say you believe something in your heart…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/penn-jillette/what-i-have-a-problem-with-is-not-so-much-religion-or-god-but-faith/)

[Penn Jillette](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/penn-jillette/)

> [Bush reiterated his stand to conservatives opposing his decision on stem cell research. He said today he believes life begins at conception and ends…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jay-leno/bush-reiterated-his-stand-to-conservatives-opposing-his-decision-on/)

[Jay Leno](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jay-leno/)

> [Never underestimate the power of the human mind to believe what it wants to believe, no matter the conflicting evidence.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brian-herbert/never-underestimate-the-power-of-the-human-mind-to-believe-what-it/)

[Brian Herbert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brian-herbert/)

> [To believe in love, to be ready to give up anything for it, to be willing to risk your life for it, is the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leonardo-dicaprio/to-believe-in-love-to-be-ready-to-give-up-anything-for-it-to-be/)

[Leonardo DiCaprio](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leonardo-dicaprio/)

> [That's why I don't generally talk about endorsements because I don't believe we have to tell people who to vote for.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-luther-king-iii/that-s-why-i-don-t-generally-talk-about-endorsements-because-i-don-t/)

[Martin Luther King III](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-luther-king-iii/)

> [Mankind have been slow to believe that order reigns in the universe-that the world is a cosmos and a chaos.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-a-garfield/mankind-have-been-slow-to-believe-that-order-reigns-in-the-universe/)

[James A. Garfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-a-garfield/)

> [We instantly believe everything we think. Isn't that insane? It's good for us to explore the depravity of our minds, so we know we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/krishna-das/we-instantly-believe-everything-we-think-isn-t-that-insane-it-s-good/)

[Krishna Das](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/krishna-das/)

Browse all 47,704 Believe quotes

```json
{
    "@context": "https://schema.org",
    "@graph": [
        {
            "@type": "Quotation",
            "text": "Fine dancing, I believe like virtue, must be its own reward. Those who are standing by are usually thinking of something very different.",
            "creator": {
                "@type": "Person",
                "name": "Jane Austen"
            },
            "isPartOf": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website"
            },
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-austen/fine-dancing-i-believe-like-virtue-must-be-its-own-reward-those-who/",
            "about": {
                "@type": "Thing",
                "name": "Believe"
            },
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-austen/fine-dancing-i-believe-like-virtue-must-be-its-own-reward-those-who/#quotation",
            "image": {
                "@type": "ImageObject",
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0bc/jane-austen-39_believe_fine-dancing-i-believe-like-virtue-must_575212.jpg",
                "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0bc/jane-austen-39_believe_fine-dancing-i-believe-like-virtue-must_575212.jpg",
                "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0bc/jane-austen-39_believe_fine-dancing-i-believe-like-virtue-must_575212.jpg",
                "width": 1080,
                "height": 1080,
                "caption": "“Fine dancing, I believe like virtue, must be its own reward. Those who are standing by are usually thinking…” — Jane Austen",
                "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
                "creator": {
                    "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization"
                }
            }
        },
        {
            "@type": "BreadcrumbList",
            "itemListElement": [
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 1,
                    "name": "Home",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 2,
                    "name": "Quotes",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 3,
                    "name": "Jane Austen",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-austen/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 4,
                    "name": "Fine dancing, I believe like virtue,...",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-austen/fine-dancing-i-believe-like-virtue-must-be-its-own-reward-those-who/"
                }
            ],
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-austen/fine-dancing-i-believe-like-virtue-must-be-its-own-reward-those-who/#breadcrumb"
        },
        {
            "@type": "WebSite",
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website",
            "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/",
            "publisher": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization"
            }
        },
        {
            "@type": "Organization",
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization",
            "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/",
            "logo": {
                "@type": "ImageObject",
                "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png",
                "width": 512,
                "height": 512
            }
        }
    ]
}
```
