Dapitan
Dapitan, 20 December 1893
MASTER ALFREDO HIDALGO
MY DEAR ALFREDO,
Your letter pleased me very much and I see that you are very much advanced. I congratulate you on it and on your excellent grade.
I believe it is my duty to call your attention to a little mistake you have committed in your letter, a mistake that many commit in society. One does not say “I and my brothers greet you” but ‘My brothers and I greet you.” You must always put yourself in the last place; you should say, “Emilio and I; You and I; My friend and I.” etc.
As to the rest, your letter leaves nothing to be desired with respect to clarity, conciseness, and orthography. Go ahead then; study, study, and meditate well what you study. Life is a very serious thing and only those with intelligence and heart go through it worthily. To live is to be among men and to be among men is to struggle. But this struggle is not a brutal and material struggle with men alone; it is a struggle with them, with one’s self, with their passions and one’s own, with errors and preoccupations. It is an eternal struggle with a smile on the lips and tears in the heart. On this battlefield man has no better weapon than his intelligence, no other force but his heart. Sharpen, perfect, polish then your mind and fortify and educate your heart.
Enough for the present. I wish you Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.
Your uncle who loves you,
JOSÉ RIZAL