Many worthwhile pursuits (and many less-worthwhile ones) require one to be persistent in the face of frustration. Persistence is, in most cases, a virtue. For example, when one is on the right path, staying on that path persistently is a good and noble virtue. However, if one persists in going down one of the many wrong paths, that persistence is really more of a vice than a virtue. As usual, context matters. To paraphrase a demotivational poster, consistency is only a virtue when one is hitting the mark. If one is missing the mark, doing so consistently is a vice. So, rather than extolling the virtue of persistence, let us extol the virtue of choosing the right path, even if it takes us off the path we've been on for a while. "Stay on the Path" is great advice for someone who's on the right one, but if one is on the wrong path, it's better to get off that path as quickly as possible.
Persistence, by itself, is not a virtue, but persistence in choosing the right path is.
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