Thanks for providing further context. I'm clearly not well-versed in the lore and history of Tolkien's works. My confusion however lies more in why people in this thread are in awe of the quote rather than how it applies to Tolkien's work.

What they didn't do was amass wealth for the sake of amassing wealth. That's what hoarding means in this context. Dragons hoard. Dwarves hoard. Hobbits don't hoard. Money is a means-to-and-end, not an end-in-and-of-itself.

OK, that makes absolute sense, and applies pretty directly to the average Joe (like you and I, for example).

But going back to the quote, why does having more hobbits/people with this type of behavior lead to the world becoming a better place? Wouldn't it be more apt to state that having more of such people makes the world more of the same or something?

As for science and literature, that doesn't really have anything to do with the quote. Hobbits like food, cheer and song over hoarding wealth.

But it does have to do with the quote! Tolkien was stating that having more of the "fun" of hobbit/person leads to a better world overall. My argument is that having more scientists and thinkers is what actually leads to a better world for everyone. Of course, I am in no way saying that everyone should be a thinker -- that would be terrible!