Takaie was famous for being 'Sagana mono' (a rough character), and many colorful anecdotes about him are related in the "Okagami" (the Great Mirror) and "Makura no soshi" (the Pillow Book), including his betting against the tyrannical Kazanin (also referred as Cloistered Emperor Kazan), and exchanging witty remarks with Sei Shonagon, nyobo (a court lady) of his sister chugu (the second consort of an emperor).
天下の「さがな者」（荒くれ者）として有名であった隆家は、王権をかさに着る花山院との賭け事や、姉中宮の女房清少納言との応酬など、『大鏡』『枕草子』にも多彩な逸話が伝えられている。