How we cite our quotes: Line
Quote #1
Not for me, no motions, please! I don't desire political clout, / just the power of twisting lawsuits, and giving my creditors the slip. (432)
From the get go, we get the sense that Strepsiades isn't exactly the most moral dude. Case in point: He freely admits that he only wants to learn rhetoric so he can get out of paying his debts. Hmm, yeah, that sounds a little bogus to us.
Quote #2
Now I'm totally in their hands; / I'll do whatever they might command, / suffer beatings, hunger, thirst, / flagellation, freezing, dearth. / Only let me shirk my debts / and gain renown as the very best / pusher, spieler, bastard, wheel, / artful liar, total heel, / shyster, con-man, found of words, / loophole, fox, plea-copper, turd, / slippery liar, shifty skunk, / loathsome villain, pesty punk, / master-chef of total bunk. (439-450)
Although Strepsiades's little poem here is clever, it definitely paints him in a negative light, morally—basically, he doesn't mind being a "bastard" if it means he can "shirk his debts."
Quote #3
Well, I've got two kinds: / if someone owes me money, it's very good; / but if it's me that owes, it's awful bad. (483-485)
When Socrates asks Strepsiades if he has a good memory, this is his answer. While funny, the response once again suggests that Strepsiades has a completely busted moral compass; his actions and morals are basically up for grabs to the highest bidder.
Quote #4
A gifted speaker? No. A deadbeat? Yes. (487)
Here, Strepsiades makes his moral frailty even more explicit by referring to himself as a deadbeat. That's pretty harsh… but apparently fairly accurate, we're afraid.
Quote #5
You've heard what I want at least a thousand times! / My debts! I want to get out of paying them! (738-739)
Hmm, this time it's Socrates who comes off as the slow learner, since Strepsiades feels the need to remind him yet again what his sole goal is in coming to the Thinkery. Socrates might imagine that he has loftier intellectual pursuits, but Strepsiades is crystal-clear about just how self-serving and non-lofty his own are.
Quote #6
Very well; I'll now describe what education used to be, / back when I spoke truth and flourished, back when decency was in vogue. (961-962)
Better Argument is trying to argue for his own school of thought, which is all about things like "truth" and "decency" (which seem to be absolute goods for him). He's pitting these values against those of Worse Argument, who basically teaches people how to argue for what they want, regardless of how inherently moral their desires are.
Quote #7
Thus, my boy, be bold and opt for me, the Better Argument. / You shall learn to loathe the market, to shun the public baths as well, / to feel ashamed of what is shameful, to burn with rage at any slight, / to offer your seat to any grownup you may see approaching you; / never to treat your parents rudely, never to act disgracefully / or any way that might dishonor the sacred shrine of Modesty; / never to invade a go-go dancer's house and lose your head, / making the whore get sweet on you, thus shattering your good repute; / never to contradict your father, calling him Methuselah, / laughing at how old he is, forgetting how he reared you! (990-999)
Better Argument gets into even more detail here about things that are (in his view) inherently good or evil. Good things include respecting your elders, pride, and acting in a dignified way.
Quote #8
I got the name Worse Argument among the intellectuals / for just this very reason, that I pioneered a new technique, / a logical way to contradict established laws and morals. (1038-1040)
Meanwhile, Worse Argument really doesn't give a hoot about right and wrong or "established morals," and he makes his living teaching people how to argue for what they want and get it, regardless of "established laws and morals."
Quote #9
Hurrah, hurrah, my child! Wow, / how great it is to see your pale complexion! / You're obviously ready to take the fifth, / to rebut accusers. You've sprouted that true Athenian / expression, the Who-Me? Look of being wronged / when you're guilty, even of serious crimes. I know / that look, and I see it blooming on your face! / So save me, since it was you that ruined me. (1170-1177)
Strepsiades is ecstatic because he believes (based on Pheidippides's paleness, which means he's been inside the Thinkery learning) that his son is ready to help him execute his nefarious plan.
Quote #10
How dangerous to entertain / a lust for villainy, / like this old man, who'd now evade / the debts he ought to pay. / Before the day has run its course / the time will surely come / when our old sophist feels remorse / about the harm he's done. / I think that he will soon obtain / the answer to his prayer: / a son who's able to maintain / what's unjust and unfair. / And though the son wins every case / with wickedness and lies, / perhaps, perhaps his dad will pray / his tongue gets paralyzed. (1303-1320)
The Clouds are weighing in here with their true opinion of Strepsiades's little scheme. Although they've egged him on up to this point, don't be fooled—they were only doing that to make sure the life-lesson hit home hard. As they predict, Strepsiades ends up really regretting what he's done when Pheidippides turns the rhetoric around on him and uses it to justify beating him.