How we cite our quotes: Line
Quote #1
It's sacrilege to tell anyone but the pupils. (140)
Here, the pupil is explaining to Strepsiades that he can't tell him much about what goes on in the Thinkery, since it's apparently sacred knowledge. You get the vibe early on that the school is really more of a religion or a cult than a school, right? Which is interesting, since Socrates talks a lot about science and logic… but apparently, he's just as reliant on blind faith as religion? Hmmm…
Quote #2
I'll tell you, then. But these are holy secrets. This morning Socrates asked Chaerephon / how many of its own feet a flea can jump / A flea had bitten Chaerephon on the eyebrow / and then jumped off and landed on Socrates' head. (143-146)
The pupil is once again indicating that what happens in the Thinkery is somehow more akin to religion than science, given that the school's lessons are "holy secrets."
Quote #3
What do you mean, "the gods"? In the first place, gods aren't legal tender here (247)
For all these (inadvertent) suggestions that Socrates is kind of a religious figure, he definitely seems anti-religion here, given that he is rejecting the existence of the gods.
Quote #4
You want to know the truth about the gods, what they really are? (250)
Socrates is about to let Strepsiades in on the secret of the gods. According to him, the only gods in existence are the Clouds… and all the rest are totally imaginary. This is news to Strepsiades.
Quote #5
Let the oldster speak with reverence, let him hear our pious prayer. (263)
When the Clouds come on the scene, they play into Socrates's portrayal of them as holy entities and invite Strepsiades to revere them. Of course, as we learn in this same passage, they're not super sincere when they praise Socrates or his philosophies.
Quote #6
Clouds that we revere so greatly, show that you have heard my cry! / You: You heard their voice, their thunder, bellowing with force divine? (291-292).
As you can see, Socrates treats the Clouds as gods, using words like "revere" and "divine" that smack of just plain old religious sentiment. As a result, his radical views about religion don't actually seem that radical, do they?
Quote #7
They're clouds from heaven, goddesses for idle men. / They're the ones who give us judgment, dialectic, intelligence, fantasy and double-talking, eloquence and forceful talk. (316-317)
Socrates explains the Clouds and the nature of their "divinity" to Strepsiades. Hmm, who knew the gods were into "double-talking" and "forceful talk"? Well, maybe the latter, if the Ten Commandments are any indicator of the stuff God/gods are into…
Quote #8
Clouds, of course! I'll prove it so by arguments irrefutable. / Tell me, have you ever seen it raining when there were no clouds? / Why can't Zeus produce a rainstorm while the clouds are out of town? (369-371)
In one of the few moments where Socrates looks on the ball, he explains that clouds are responsible for rain. Yay, score one for Socrates.
Quote #9
Promise that you'll recognize no god but those we recognize, / Emptiness and Clouds and Tongue, the one and only Trinity? (423-424)
Ah, after that brief foray into science with Socrates's meteorology lesson, now we're back to acting like the Thinkery is a cult. Apparently, Strepsiades can't enroll without swearing to have certain beliefs.
Quote #10
Paternal Zeus! Just listen! How old-fashioned! Does Zeus exist? (1468)
Much later in the play, after Strepsiades has gone back to believing in Zeus, Pheidippides has been converted to the Thinkery's philosophies and "religion." As a result, he makes fun of his father for invoking Zeus's name, reminding him that Zeus doesn't exist.