Vivekananda Chudamani verse 2 and 3

"Three things are rare and are gained by the grace of God, namely, a human birth, desire for liberation and getting a great soul as one`s Master or Guru to guide him" "For all living creatures, a human birth is indeed rare; much more difficult is to attain full manhood; rarer than this is a Sattwic attitude in life. Even after gaining all these rare chances, to have steadfastness on the path of spiritual activity as enshrined in Veda-s is yet rarer. Still rarer is to have a correct knowledge of the deep knowledge of the scriptures. Discrimination between the Real and the unreal, a personal experience of spiritual Glory and ultimately to get fully established in the living consciousness that the Self in me is the Self in all..... these come only later on, and culminate in one`s own liberation. This kind of a perfect liberation can not be had without earned merits of a hundred crores of lives lived intelligently." (Verses 2 and 3 of Viveka choodAmani)