Canto XLV Strength and Skill Quotes

If Pound's starting to sound repetitive here, it's because he is. Again, he tries to drive home the point that nothing productive can happen if people just make money off of their own money.

Usura has a way of ruining pretty much everything it touches. But what bothers Pound the most is that usura ruins people's ability to create beautiful objects. So when he says that usura "rusteth the chisel," he's saying that beauty—the most important aspect of all human creation—is made impossible in a world with usura.

Sure, it's all well and good to weave gold into whatever you're making. But hey, gold is expensive and tough to weave. So why bother, right? Most customers aren't going to fully appreciate it. Well this is exactly the kind of thinking that usura causes, according to Pound. The main question we ask of what we make is, "How cheaply can I make this?" instead of "How beautifully can I make this?"