At Sāvatthi.

"Bhikkhus, suppose there were a pond, fifty yojanas long, fifty yojanas wide, and fifty yojanas deep, full of water, overflowing so that a crow could drink from it, and a man would draw out some water from it with the tip of a blade of grass.

What do you think, bhikkhus, which is greater: the water drawn with the tip of the blade of grass, or the water in the pond?"

"Venerable sir, the water in the pond is indeed far greater. The water drawn with the tip of the blade of grass is very little. Compared to the water in the pond, the amount drawn with the blade of grass doesn't come to a hundredth part, nor a thousandth part, nor even a hundred-thousandth part."

"Just so, bhikkhus, for the disciple of the noble ones who has attained right view, who has completely penetrated [the four noble truths], this much greater is the suffering that is exhausted and overcome; only a small amount remains. It does not come to a hundredth part, nor to a thousandth part, nor to a hundred-thousandth part of the former mass of suffering that is exhausted and overcome compared to this final state of having at most seven more existences. Thus great, bhikkhus, is the realization of the Dhamma; thus great is the attainment of the vision of the Dhamma."