Dhammapada · 14.4

Kiccho manussapaṭilābho, kicchaṃ maccāna jīvitaṃ;Kicchaṃ saddhammasavanaṃ, kiccho buddhānamuppādo.

Kiccho manussapatilabho, kiccham maccana jivitam; Kiccham saddhammasavanam, kiccho buddhanamuppado.

Rare is the gaining of human birth, rare the life of mortals, rare the hearing of the true Dhamma, rare the arising of Buddhas.

— Dhammapada 14.4

Source: Pali text from the Khuddaka Nikāya of the Pali Canon (oldest extant Buddhist scripture, compiled c. 3rd century BCE). Public-domain English readings drawn from F. Max Müller's translation in Sacred Books of the East, Vol X (1881) and the Buddhist Publication Society's freely-licensed Acharya Buddharakkhita rendering.