This precious human birth

"Suppose that this great earth were totally covered with water, and a man were to toss a yoke with a single hole there. 

A wind from the east would push it west,
A wind from the west would push it east.
A wind from the north would push it south,
A wind from the south would push it north. 

And suppose a blind sea-turtle were there. 

Suppose the turtle would come to the surface once every one hundred years. Now what do you think: would that blind sea-turtle, coming to the surface once every one hundred years, stick his neck into the yoke with a single hole?"

"It would be a sheer coincidence, Lord, that the blind sea-turtle, coming to the surface once every one hundred years, would stick his neck into the yoke with a single hole."

"It is likewise a sheer coincidence that one obtains the human state. 

It is likewise a sheer coincidence that a Tathāgata, worthy & rightly self-awakened, arises in the world.

It is likewise a sheer coincidence that a doctrine & discipline expounded by a Tathāgata appears in the world.

Do not waste this precious human birth."

— Samyutta Nikāya