Daily Inspiration Quote by James M. Barrie

Barrie lands the line like a pinprick: funny in its rhythm, nasty in its accuracy. “That is ever the way” sets up a weary shrug at human nature, then the aphorism tightens into a two-part joke with a bite. The bride gets jealousy; the corpse gets good wishes. In other words, we resent the living for having what we want, but we can afford generosity once a person is safely beyond competition.

The wording does a lot of covert work. “’Tis” and the sing-song balance of “bride” and “corpse” borrow the cadence of folk wisdom, as if this cruelty is old, settled, almost respectable. Barrie’s stagecraft shows in how quickly the punchline flips the room: marriage, usually coded as celebration, is reframed as a social referendum on scarcity. Beauty, youth, attention, the future itself. The corpse, meanwhile, becomes a clean slate for public virtue. We praise the dead because they can’t contradict the story, and because our praise costs nothing.

Subtextually, it’s an indictment of communal sentimentality: people confuse moral feeling with moral action. Jealousy is the honest reaction to someone’s luck; “good wishes” at a funeral are often a performance of decency, polished and consequence-free. The line also hints at a darker economy of affection in Barrie’s world: love and approval aren’t distributed by merit but by timing. You get your flowers when you can’t smell them, and your side-eye when you can.