Horatio Alger

Horatio Alger was a nineteenth-century American author who wrote formulaic novels about poor boys achieving success through hard work, determination, and fortunate breaks.

His name now serves as shorthand for rags-to-riches narratives: a Horatio Alger story, the Horatio Alger myth.

The phrase often carries skepticism about whether such upward mobility remains possible: Politicians love invoking Horatio Alger while ignoring structural inequality.