"GIVE all to love; Obey thy heart; Friends, kindred, days, Estate, good fame, Plans, credit, and the Muse—Nothing refuse." 'Give All to Love' is a celebrated poem by American writer Ralph Waldo Emerson. It has since become one of his most famous writings, as well as an exemplary work in the genre of Transcendentalism. Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882) was an American essayist, lecturer, philosopher, abolitionist, and poet born in Boston, Massachusetts. He has left his mark in history as leading the transcendentalist movement of the mid-19th century, and was a a champion of individualism as well as a prescient critic of the countervailing pressures of society. Today, his most famous works are 'Self-Reliance and Other Essays' (1844), 'Essays and Poems' (1856), and 'Nature' (1836).