Why is it that we rejoice at a birth and grieve at a funeral? It is because we are not the person involved.

The remark turns on a deliberately cold, comic inversion: our emotional responses to life’s milestones are less about the person undergoing them than about our own position as observers. A birth is “good news” to those who anticipate joy, continuity, or benefit; a funeral is “bad news” to those who feel loss, inconvenience, or fear. By pointing out that the newborn and the dead are not the ones rejoicing or grieving, the line satirizes sentimental conventions and exposes the self-referential nature of social emotions. It also echoes Twain’s frequent skepticism about human motives, suggesting that even our most solemn rituals are shaped by ego and perspective.