Here is what Aristotle had to say on virtue: "the virtue of a man [is] the state of character which makes a man good and which makes him do his own work well." [1] Hence we should praise the state of character, not just the ability to reach and maintain that state.

[1] Nicomachean Ethics, book 2, chapter 6 (http://classics.mit.edu/Aristotle/nicomachaen.2.ii.html)