I think love is really the mother of all virtue. Take patience, for example. If I really love someone, I am happy to wait. My happiness and joy at doing so means I do not perceive the waiting as patience – though everyone around me might. The idea that virtue is proven by its being “hard” or by “suffering” places the emphasis on me; whereas virtue that proceeds from love, and thus leads to gladness, places all emphasis on the Beloved.
If we truly saw our Best-Beloved in all things, would not virtue be the natural expression of our innermost desires? Forgiveness, sacrifice, patience, kindliness, service – these are as breathing to a lover.