He had tried to advance in this way, but had not succeeded, and so he had retreated into the muteness they expected, and perhaps preferred.

NEWYORKER: The Limner

These "decisive moments, " as Cartier-Bresson was wont to call them, summon up imagined chatter and repartee, so unlike the still, stubborn muteness inherent in Strand's work.

WSJ: Review: Two Sides of the Same Coin | 'Henri Cartier-Bresson/Paul Strand, Mexico 1932-1934' at Fondation Cartier in Paris

But the Slows appeared to enjoy the helplessness of their larvae the lack of humanity, the deplorable fervor of the little creatures, their muteness, their mindless appetites, their selfishness, their ignorance, their inability to act.

NEWYORKER: The Slows