How the mighty do fall!

[Aaron]

I think Aragorn had a line which summed it up quite nicely:

If simple folk are free from care and fear, simple they will be.

The Hobbits are saved by their humility. Aragorn is a good King because he lowered himself to live a hard life rather than enjoy the pleasures of the world. Eomer suffered exile, Faramir suffered his father's constant disapproval.

In Tolkien's world, hardship purifies the characters - whereas the villains flatter themselves with lofty titles and airs and graces. Saruman the Wise, Sauron the Great, the Witch-King who boasts of his own immortality.

It's a very Christian view, in line with Tolkien's deeply held faith.