--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Ragtime was a fanfare for the 20th century." description: "\"Ragtime was a fanfare for the 20th century.\" — Russell Lynes" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c56/russell-lynes-14222_20th-century_ragtime-was-a-fanfare-for-the-20th-centu_1026946.png" --- # Ragtime was a fanfare for the 20th century. ![“Ragtime was a fanfare for the 20th century.” quote by Russell Lynes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c56/russell-lynes-14222_20th-century_ragtime-was-a-fanfare-for-the-20th-centu_1026946.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c56/russell-lynes-14222_20th-century_ragtime-was-a-fanfare-for-the-20th-centu_1026946.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c56/russell-lynes-14222_20th-century_ragtime-was-a-fanfare-for-the-20th-centu_1026946.png) > “Ragtime was a fanfare for the 20th century.” [Russell Lynes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/russell-lynes/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Ragtime epitomized the exuberant, celebratory spirit that defined the early 20th century. **In simple terms:** Ragtime symbolized the era’s lively optimism. Key Takeaway Recognize cultural moments that capture a generation’s mood. Themes culture history music Mood nostalgic energetic Type historical musical When to use this quote - early 20th‑century urban life - dance halls - musical evolution Key Concepts modernism social change artistic expression Questions to Reflect On - How do contemporary music trends reflect today’s societal mood? - What modern genre mirrors ragtime’s impact? A Different Perspective Ragtime’s popularity waned as new styles emerged. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Fanfare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fanfare/) [Ragtime](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ragtime/) ## Related quotes > [Improvisation was the blood and bone of jazz, and in the classic, New Orleans jazz it was collective improvisation in which each performer, seemingly…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/russell-lynes/improvisation-was-the-blood-and-bone-of-jazz-and-in-the-classic-new/) [Russell Lynes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/russell-lynes/) > [Tomorrow the revolution will already 'raise itself with a rattle' and announce with fanfare, to your terror: I was, I am, I will be!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rosa-luxemburg/tomorrow-the-revolution-will-already-raise-itself-with-a-rattle-and/) [Rosa Luxemburg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rosa-luxemburg/) > [You have something to give and are willing to give it. You do this without fanfare or publicity, drawing attention to the God we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/linda-k-burton/you-have-something-to-give-and-are-willing-to-give-it-you-do-this/) [Linda K. Burton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/linda-k-burton/) > [Yeah, in the digital world, it is so much easier to put stuff out without a great deal of paraphernalia and fanfare.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-gabriel/yeah-in-the-digital-world-it-is-so-much-easier-to-put-stuff-out/) [Peter Gabriel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-gabriel/) > [Rolen's the perfect baseball player. It's his tenacity, his preparation, the way he plays. He tries to do everything fundamentally sound. And he puts…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ned-yost/rolen-s-the-perfect-baseball-player-it-s-his-tenacity-his-preparation/) Ned Yost > [Every writer aspires to recognition , and it comes entirely privately, without public fanfare, each time a piece of work is judged worthy of publication.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cynthia-ozick/every-writer-aspires-to-recognition-and-it-comes-entirely-privately/) [Cynthia Ozick](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cynthia-ozick/) > [I think that being isolated from the Hollywood world of premieres and red carpet events was probably good for me because I could ease…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/evangeline-lilly/i-think-that-being-isolated-from-the-hollywood-world-of-premieres-and-2/) [Evangeline Lilly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/evangeline-lilly/) > [Too often in the past, our Armed Forces have returned to Canada from their trials with little fanfare. Not so today. Canadians across the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-harper/too-often-in-the-past-our-armed-forces-have-returned-to-canada-from/) [Stephen Harper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-harper/) > [Once you become somebody, that don't mean you distance yourself from people. There is no such thing as no one can walk the streets…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-bivins/once-you-become-somebody-that-don-t-mean-you-distance-yourself-from/) [Michael Bivins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-bivins/) > [I don't like my birthday to be an occasion for fanfare.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/simi-garewal/i-don-t-like-my-birthday-to-be-an-occasion-for-fanfare/) [Simi Garewal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/simi-garewal/) > [I want to keep everything balanced. That's why it's important not to have too much fanfare.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-scott/i-want-to-keep-everything-balanced-that-s-why-it-s-important-not-to/) [Andrew Scott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrew-scott/) > [I think, especially among the New York intelligentsia at that time, that there was a reason Bob Dylan went to New York to happen,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/t-bone-burnett/i-think-especially-among-the-new-york-intelligentsia-at-that-time/) [T Bone Burnett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/t-bone-burnett/) > [Have you ever had one of those moments when you know that you're being visited by your own future? They come so rarely and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-rakoff/have-you-ever-had-one-of-those-moments-when-you-know-that-you-re/) [David Rakoff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-rakoff/) > [After the cheers have died down and the stadium is empty, after the headlines have been written and after you are back in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vince-lombardi/after-the-cheers-have-died-down-and-the-stadium-is-empty-after-the/) [Vince Lombardi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vince-lombardi/) > [I really just concentrated on putting out solo stuff on my website, just trying things, but this time we thought it was time to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-orbit/i-really-just-concentrated-on-putting-out-solo-stuff-on-my-website/) William Orbit ## More by Russell Lynes > [Friends never make assumptions about you. They never expect a reason to go out with you. In fact friends only expect you to be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/russell-lynes/friends-never-make-assumptions-about-you-they-never-expect-a-reason/) [Russell Lynes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/russell-lynes/) > [Wasting time is negative, but there is something positive about idleness.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/russell-lynes/wasting-time-is-negative-but-there-is-something-positive-about/) [Russell Lynes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/russell-lynes/) > [When it gets dark enough you can see the stars.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/russell-lynes/when-it-gets-dark-enough-you-can-see-the-stars/) [Russell Lynes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/russell-lynes/) > [No author dislikes to be edited as much as he dislikes not to be published.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/russell-lynes/no-author-dislikes-to-be-edited-as-much-as-he-dislikes-not-to-be/) [Russell Lynes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/russell-lynes/) > [Are you always this stupid or are you making a special effort today?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/russell-lynes/are-you-always-this-stupid-or-are-you-making-a-special-effort-today/) [Russell Lynes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/russell-lynes/) > [Improvisation was the blood and bone of jazz, and in the classic, New Orleans jazz it was collective improvisation in which each performer, seemingly…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/russell-lynes/improvisation-was-the-blood-and-bone-of-jazz-and-in-the-classic-new/) [Russell Lynes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/russell-lynes/) > [What we are headed for is a sort of social structure in which the highbrows are the elite, the middlebrows are the bourgeoisie and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/russell-lynes/what-we-are-headed-for-is-a-sort-of-social-structure-in-which-the/) [Russell Lynes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/russell-lynes/) > [Hi there, I'm a human being! What are you?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/russell-lynes/hi-there-i-m-a-human-being-what-are-you/) [Russell Lynes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/russell-lynes/) > [The bungalow had more to do with how Americans live today than any other building that has gone remotely by the name of architecture…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/russell-lynes/the-bungalow-had-more-to-do-with-how-americans-live-today-than-any/) [Russell Lynes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/russell-lynes/) > [The shaping of taste is essentially the science of merchandising, whether of detergents or cars or books or objects of fine and decorative art.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/russell-lynes/the-shaping-of-taste-is-essentially-the-science-of-merchandising/) [Russell Lynes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/russell-lynes/) > [It is always well to accept your own shortcomings with candor but to regard those of your friends with polite incredulity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/russell-lynes/it-is-always-well-to-accept-your-own-shortcomings-with-candor-but-to/) [Russell Lynes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/russell-lynes/) > [The true snob never rests; there is always a higher goal to attain, and there are, by the same token, always more and more…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/russell-lynes/the-true-snob-never-rests-there-is-always-a-higher-goal-to-attain-and/) [Russell Lynes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/russell-lynes/) > [The Good Quality Snob, or wearer of muted tweeds, cut almost exactly the same from year to year, often with a hat of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/russell-lynes/the-good-quality-snob-or-wearer-of-muted-tweeds-cut-almost-exactly/) [Russell Lynes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/russell-lynes/) > [Every journalist has a novel in him, which is an excellent place for it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/russell-lynes/every-journalist-has-a-novel-in-him-which-is-an-excellent-place-for-it/) [Russell Lynes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/russell-lynes/) > [A lady is a woman who makes a man behave like a gentleman.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/russell-lynes/a-lady-is-a-woman-who-makes-a-man-behave-like-a-gentleman/) [Russell Lynes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/russell-lynes/) [Explore all 47 Russell Lynes quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/russell-lynes/) ## More 20th century quotes > [I think the inhabitants of the past are fighting hard to keep the rents they acquired in the 20th century.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-bennet/i-think-the-inhabitants-of-the-past-are-fighting-hard-to-keep-the/) [Michael Bennet](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-bennet/) > [Corporate America is a 20th-century dinosaur, trembling on the edge of extinction, and the only way for you to have a genuinely secure future…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-kiyosaki/corporate-america-is-a-20th-century-dinosaur-trembling-on-the-edge-of/) [Robert Kiyosaki](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-kiyosaki/) > [America thrived in the 20th century because we made high school free. We sent a generation to college. We cultivated the most educated workforce…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barack-obama/america-thrived-in-the-20th-century-because-we-made-high-school-free/) [Barack Obama](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barack-obama/) > [The 20th century has been marked by cynicism, selfishness, greed, and the desire to please, all without changing the status quo. In the 21st…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/scar-arias/the-20th-century-has-been-marked-by-cynicism-selfishness-greed-and/) [Óscar Arias](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/scar-arias/) > [I've studied the lives of the 20th century's great businessmen and concluded self-confidence was instrumental in all their success.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alex-spanos/i-ve-studied-the-lives-of-the-20th-century-s-great-businessmen-and/) [Alex Spanos](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alex-spanos/) > [Universal literacy was a 20th-century goal. Before then, reading and writing were skills largely confined to a small, highly educated class of professional people.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hugh-mackay/universal-literacy-was-a-20th-century-goal-before-then-reading-and/) [Hugh Mackay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hugh-mackay/) > [The great wars of the 20th Century made it into the worst Century ever.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-ambrose/the-great-wars-of-the-20th-century-made-it-into-the-worst-century-ever/) [Stephen Ambrose](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-ambrose/) > [That is very different from how it used to be in the 20th century. Media was very one way. There's a small little industry.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-gordon-levitt/that-is-very-different-from-how-it-used-to-be-in-the-20th-century/) [Joseph Gordon-Levitt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-gordon-levitt/) > [If you look back on the history of the 20th century, the 19th century or even to the ancien régime of the 18th, you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/zygmunt-bauman/if-you-look-back-on-the-history-of-the-20th-century-the-19th-century/) [Zygmunt Bauman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/zygmunt-bauman/) > [Up to the 20th century, we can say that this whole period was an Earth epoch, 'Earth' meaning the riches of the earth, simple…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lech-walesa/up-to-the-20th-century-we-can-say-that-this-whole-period-was-an-earth/) [Lech Walesa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lech-walesa/) > [I think this century more than any other really has seen the phenomenon of people being uprooted in such numbers, such a degree. They…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elie-wiesel/i-think-this-century-more-than-any-other-really-has-seen-the/) [Elie Wiesel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elie-wiesel/) > [If you look at that incredible burst of fantastic characters that emerged in the late 19th century/early 20th century, you can see so many…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-moore/if-you-look-at-that-incredible-burst-of-fantastic-characters-that/) [Alan Moore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-moore/) > [Cruel and paradoxical though it undoubtedly is, the record shows that yje most succesful 20th century monarchs have been those who were not actually…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-cannadine/cruel-and-paradoxical-though-it-undoubtedly-is-the-record-shows-that/) [David Cannadine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-cannadine/) > [An interesting thing about New Zealand, you know, literature is that it really didn't begin in any real sense until the 20th century.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eleanor-catton/an-interesting-thing-about-new-zealand-you-know-literature-is-that-it/) [Eleanor Catton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eleanor-catton/) > [The Warmth of Other Suns is a sweeping and yet deeply personal tale of America's hidden 20th century history - the long and difficult…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-brokaw/the-warmth-of-other-suns-is-a-sweeping-and-yet-deeply-personal-tale/) [Tom Brokaw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-brokaw/) Browse all 672 20th century quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Ragtime was a fanfare for the 20th century.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Russell Lynes" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/russell-lynes/ragtime-was-a-fanfare-for-the-20th-century/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "20th century" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/russell-lynes/ragtime-was-a-fanfare-for-the-20th-century/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c56/russell-lynes-14222_20th-century_ragtime-was-a-fanfare-for-the-20th-centu_1026946.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c56/russell-lynes-14222_20th-century_ragtime-was-a-fanfare-for-the-20th-centu_1026946.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c56/russell-lynes-14222_20th-century_ragtime-was-a-fanfare-for-the-20th-centu_1026946.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Ragtime was a fanfare for the 20th century.” — Russell Lynes", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Russell Lynes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/russell-lynes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Ragtime was a fanfare for the...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/russell-lynes/ragtime-was-a-fanfare-for-the-20th-century/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/russell-lynes/ragtime-was-a-fanfare-for-the-20th-century/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```