--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Liberty is given by nature even to mute…" description: "\"Liberty is given by nature even to mute animals.\" — Tacitus" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/af7/tacitus-1552_animal_liberty-is-given-by-nature-even-to-mute_873892.jpg" --- # Liberty is given by nature even to mute animals. ![“Liberty is given by nature even to mute animals.” quote by Tacitus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/af7/tacitus-1552_animal_liberty-is-given-by-nature-even-to-mute_873892.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/af7/tacitus-1552_animal_liberty-is-given-by-nature-even-to-mute_873892.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/af7/tacitus-1552_animal_liberty-is-given-by-nature-even-to-mute_873892.jpg) > “Liberty is given by nature even to mute animals.” [Tacitus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tacitus/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Nature grants liberty even to silent creatures, implying inherent freedom beyond human speech. **In simple terms:** Nature gives freedom to mute animals. Key Takeaway Recognize freedom exists beyond human constructs. Themes philosophy nature freedom Mood thoughtful contemplative Type philosophical ethical When to use this quote - environmental ethics - animal rights - political theory Key Concepts natural rights animal life innate liberty Questions to Reflect On - What does liberty mean for non‑human beings? - How do we respect inherent freedoms? A Different Perspective Human concepts of liberty may not apply to animals. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Animal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/animal/) [Animals](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/animals/) [Freedom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/freedom/) [Liberty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/liberty/) [Nature](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nature/) ## Related quotes > [Nature is not mute, it is a man who is deaf.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terence-mckenna/nature-is-not-mute-it-is-a-man-who-is-deaf/) [Terence McKenna](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terence-mckenna/) > [From the standpoint of modern political science the slave holders were right in declaring that liberty can be given only to those who have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-edward-merriam/from-the-standpoint-of-modern-political-science-the-slave-holders/) [Charles Edward Merriam](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-edward-merriam/) > [No people to whom liberty is given can hold it as firmly and wear it as grandly as those who wrench their liberty from…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-douglass/no-people-to-whom-liberty-is-given-can-hold-it-as-firmly-and-wear-it/) [Frederick Douglass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-douglass/) > [I believe that it is my duty and your duty to teach our children concerning this great God-inspired Constitution, this great law of liberty…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-w-nibley/i-believe-that-it-is-my-duty-and-your-duty-to-teach-our-children/) Charles W. Nibley > [Under the law of nature, all men are born free, every one comes into the world with a right to his own person, which…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-jefferson/under-the-law-of-nature-all-men-are-born-free-every-one-comes-into/) [Thomas Jefferson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-jefferson/) > [Discipline must come through liberty. . . . We do not consider an individual disciplined only when he has been rendered as artificially silent…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maria-montessori/discipline-must-come-through-liberty-we-do-not-consider-an-individual/) [Maria Montessori](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maria-montessori/) > [“It's easier for the mute person to envy in silence.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tamerlan-kuzgov/it-s-easier-for-the-mute-person-to-envy-in-silence/) [Tamerlan Kuzgov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tamerlan-kuzgov/) > [I grieve and dare not show my discontent, I love and yet am forced to seem to hate, I do, yet dare not say…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-i/i-grieve-and-dare-not-show-my-discontent-i-love-and-yet-am-forced-to/) [Elizabeth I](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-i/) > [“I have three phobias which, could I mute them,would make my life as slick as a sonnet,but dull as ditch water:I hate to go…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tallulah-bankhead/i-have-three-phobias-which-could-i-mute-them-would-make-my-life-as/) [Tallulah Bankhead](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tallulah-bankhead/) > [“Still alone. I’ll always be alone, won’t I, even if I feed a house, even if I feed a town, even if the lame…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stant-litore/still-alone-i-ll-always-be-alone-won-t-i-even-if-i-feed-a-house-even/) [Stant Litore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stant-litore/) > [In the world of the Middle East at the moment, the debates are shrill. But ... the wisest voice of all of them may…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-macgregor/in-the-world-of-the-middle-east-at-the-moment-the-debates-are-shrill/) [Neil MacGregor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-macgregor/) > [Strange how love coexists with hate, how they render eachother mute, how the swilling of them together makes a new and softer, sympathetic thing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sonya-hartnett/strange-how-love-coexists-with-hate-how-they-render-eachother-mute/) [Sonya Hartnett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sonya-hartnett/) > [Science and technology multiply around us. To an increasing extent they dictate the languages in which we speak and think. Either we use those…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-g-ballard/science-and-technology-multiply-around-us-to-an-increasing-extent/) [J. G. Ballard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-g-ballard/) > [Only once have I been made mute. It was when a man asked me, 'Who are you?'](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/khalil-gibran/only-once-have-i-been-made-mute-it-was-when-a-man-asked-me-who-are-you/) [Khalil Gibran](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/khalil-gibran/) > [Music is almost like a therapy for me. It helps keep me centered and think straight. Before I discovered it, I was walking around,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/banks/music-is-almost-like-a-therapy-for-me-it-helps-keep-me-centered-and/) [Banks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/banks/) ## More by Tacitus > [Benefits received are a delight to us as long as we think we can requite them; when that possibility is far exceeded, they are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tacitus/benefits-received-are-a-delight-to-us-as-long-as-we-think-we-can/) [Tacitus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tacitus/) > [Rumor does not always err; it sometimes even elects a man.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tacitus/rumor-does-not-always-err-it-sometimes-even-elects-a-man/) [Tacitus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tacitus/) > [ None mourn more ostentatiously than those who most rejoice at it \[a death\]. ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tacitus/none-mourn-more-ostentatiously-than-those-who-most-rejoice-at-it-a/) [Tacitus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tacitus/) > [So true is it that all transactions of preeminent importance are wrapt in doubt and obscurity; while some hold for certain facts the most…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tacitus/so-true-is-it-that-all-transactions-of-preeminent-importance-are/) [Tacitus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tacitus/) > [Be assured those will be thy worst enemies, not to whom thou hast done evil, but who have done evil to thee. And those…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tacitus/be-assured-those-will-be-thy-worst-enemies-not-to-whom-thou-hast-done/) [Tacitus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tacitus/) > [Christianity is a pestilent superstition.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tacitus/christianity-is-a-pestilent-superstition/) [Tacitus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tacitus/) > [Indeed, the crowning proof of their valour and their strength is that they keep up their superiority without harm to others.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tacitus/indeed-the-crowning-proof-of-their-valour-and-their-strength-is-that/) [Tacitus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tacitus/) > [Formerly we suffered from crimes; now we suffer from laws.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tacitus/formerly-we-suffered-from-crimes-now-we-suffer-from-laws/) [Tacitus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tacitus/) > [ None mourn more ostentatiously over the death of Germanicus than those who most rejoice at it \[a death\]. ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tacitus/none-mourn-more-ostentatiously-over-the-death-of-germanicus-than/) [Tacitus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tacitus/) > [Once killing starts, it is difficult to draw the line.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tacitus/once-killing-starts-it-is-difficult-to-draw-the-line/) [Tacitus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tacitus/) > [The lust of dominion burns with a flame so fierce as to overpower all other affections of the human breast.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tacitus/the-lust-of-dominion-burns-with-a-flame-so-fierce-as-to-overpower-all/) [Tacitus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tacitus/) > [“It is a principle of nature to hate those whom you have injured.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tacitus/it-is-a-principle-of-nature-to-hate-those-whom-you-have-injured/) [Tacitus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tacitus/) > [Kindness, so far as we can return it, is agreeable.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tacitus/kindness-so-far-as-we-can-return-it-is-agreeable/) [Tacitus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tacitus/) > [Posterity gives every man his true value.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tacitus/posterity-gives-every-man-his-true-value/) [Tacitus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tacitus/) > [The most detestable race of enemies are flatterers.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tacitus/the-most-detestable-race-of-enemies-are-flatterers/) [Tacitus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tacitus/) [Explore all 227 Tacitus quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tacitus/) ## More Animal quotes > [I was 3-years-old - to this day it is a vivid memory. My family and I were on a boat, catching fish. As one…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joaquin-phoenix/i-was-3-years-old-to-this-day-it-is-a-vivid-memory-my-family-and-i/) [Joaquin Phoenix](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joaquin-phoenix/) > [Animals know nothing of themselves, and they also know nothing of the world.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/animals-know-nothing-of-themselves-and-they-also-know-nothing-of-the/) [Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/) > [Humans are animals too, but some do not like to work from expectations.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mak-786/humans-are-animals-too-but-some-do-not-like-to-work-from-expectations/) Mak\_786 > [When grubbing for necessities man is still an animal. He becomes uniquely human when he reaches out for the superfluous and extravagant.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-hoffer/when-grubbing-for-necessities-man-is-still-an-animal-he-becomes/) [Eric Hoffer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-hoffer/) > [I'm 38 and I'm single, and I'm having my most intense and gratifying relationship with a dog. But we all learn about love in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/caroline-knapp/i-m-38-and-i-m-single-and-i-m-having-my-most-intense-and-gratifying/) [Caroline Knapp](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/caroline-knapp/) > [Practically all animals which move fast in a homogeneous medium have found means of giving their body a streamlined shape, thereby reducing friction to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/konrad-lorenz/practically-all-animals-which-move-fast-in-a-homogeneous-medium-have/) [Konrad Lorenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/konrad-lorenz/) > [A horse, a horse, my kingdom for a horse!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-shakespeare/a-horse-a-horse-my-kingdom-for-a-horse/) [William Shakespeare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-shakespeare/) > [“it is a federal system of sadistic torture, vivisection, and animal genocide, which has been carried on for decades under the fraudulent guise of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-tobias/it-is-a-federal-system-of-sadistic-torture-vivisection-and-animal/) [Michael Tobias](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-tobias/) > [“What does it mean to be a self-conscious animal? The idea is ludicrous, if it is not monstrous. It means to know that one…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-becker/what-does-it-mean-to-be-a-self-conscious-animal-the-idea-is-ludicrous/) [Ernest Becker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-becker/) > [We must love animals in such a powerful way that we should reject to eat them!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mehmet-murat-ildan/we-must-love-animals-in-such-a-powerful-way-that-we-should-reject-to/) [Mehmet Murat Ildan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mehmet-murat-ildan/) > [“The universe contains any amount of horrible ways to be woken up, such as the noise of the mob breaking down the front door,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-pratchett/the-universe-contains-any-amount-of-horrible-ways-to-be-woken-up-such/) [Terry Pratchett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terry-pratchett/) > [This brings me back to the image of Kafka standing before a fish in the Berlin aquarium, a fish on which his gaze fell…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-safran-foer/this-brings-me-back-to-the-image-of-kafka-standing-before-a-fish-in/) [Jonathan Safran Foer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-safran-foer/) > [That dog, I say that dog is lower than a snake full of buckshot.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/foghorn-leghorn/that-dog-i-say-that-dog-is-lower-than-a-snake-full-of-buckshot/) [Foghorn Leghorn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/foghorn-leghorn/) > [I bet plants go like 'Weeeeeeeee!' whenever they're swallowed by a giraffe.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/i-bet-plants-go-like-weeeeeeeee-whenever-they-re-swallowed-by-a/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Animal rights without veganism is like human rights with slavery. It makes no sense. None whatsoever.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gary-l-francione/animal-rights-without-veganism-is-like-human-rights-with-slavery-it/) [Gary L. Francione](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gary-l-francione/) [Browse all 13,456 Animal quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/animal/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Liberty is given by nature even to mute animals.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Tacitus" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tacitus/liberty-is-given-by-nature-even-to-mute-animals/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Animal" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tacitus/liberty-is-given-by-nature-even-to-mute-animals/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/af7/tacitus-1552_animal_liberty-is-given-by-nature-even-to-mute_873892.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/af7/tacitus-1552_animal_liberty-is-given-by-nature-even-to-mute_873892.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/af7/tacitus-1552_animal_liberty-is-given-by-nature-even-to-mute_873892.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Liberty is given by nature even to mute animals.” — Tacitus", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Tacitus", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tacitus/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Liberty is given by nature even...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tacitus/liberty-is-given-by-nature-even-to-mute-animals/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tacitus/liberty-is-given-by-nature-even-to-mute-animals/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```