Simile of the Blind Sea-turtle

Suppose a man threw into the sea a yoke with one hole in it, and the east wind carried it to the west, and the west wind carried it to the east, and the north wind carried it to the south and the south wind carried it to the north. Suppose there were a blind turtle that came up once at the end of each century. What do you think bhikkhus? Would that blind turtle put his neck into that yoke with one hole in it?”

“He might, venerable sir, sometime or other at the end of a long period.”

“Bhikkhus, the blind turtle would take less time to put his neck into that yoke with a single hole in it than a fool, once gone to perdition, would take to regain the human state, I say. Why is that? Because there is no practicing of the Dhamma there, no practicing of what is righteous, no doing of what is wholesome, no performance of merit. There mutual devouring prevails, and the slaughter of the weak.
~ The Buddha

The source for the above material:
MN 129 Balapandita Sutta: Fools and Wise Men. Copyright © Bhikkhu Bodhi 1995, 2001. Reprinted from The Middle Length Discourses of the Buddha: A Translation of the Majjhima Nikaya. With permission from Wisdom Publications, 199 Elm Street, Somerville, MA 02144 U.S.A.