His aunts being impoverished, he attended only the first year in the Liceo de Costa Rica, before leaving school to work for a living.
When he was 27 years old, he participated in a competition to provide lyrics for the National Anthem, which already had music composed by Manuel María Gutiérrez.
From 1914 to 1917 he was the director of the National Printing press; from 1917 to 1924 he was the administrator of the Botica Francesa (French Drugstore).
In 1946 he was named General Secretary of Hospital San Juan de Dios, a position he had until 1949.
By then his health was very delicate and he could not return to the Assembly, and retired to his property "La Pastora" (The Shepherd) in Esparza.