Word: voltairian
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Dates: during 1920-1929
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...Reed of Missouri rose. Necks craned in the galleries. Mr. Heflin prepared to receive a Voltairian scorching. Said Mr. Reed: "Mr. President, I do not know that we shall gain anything by prolonging a discussion of this kind. I am sorry it has occurred. So that I may remove all taint of suspicion that I speak from interested motives, I remark that I was born and reared in the Presbyterian faith. . . . I do not propose to interfere with the efforts of the Executive to protect the interests of the United States until and unless it becomes manifest that...
...cynicism, who declares that the only test of true love is whether you can use your husband's toothbrush. The dialogue is conscious of its own glitter. The audience is aware that actors settle themselves, preen themselves, for the utterance of shining platitudes, universal conversation in the pseudo-Voltairian manner. Ethel Barrymore's acting is the stage Ethel of recent years, to which an Ethel-drawn audience responds with laughter, palpably content. Percy Hammond: "Miss Barrymore . . . slender, fair, 36 and super-charming...
Justice McKenna usually armed himself on the bench with a magnificent, reticent dignity, but in times of argument he rose like an angry emperor slashing controversy with vehement logic, scorching opponents with Voltairian sarcasm. Off the bench he was as genial as an Irish sergeant...