I'd like the source of a  quotation, author, work, and circumstances
surrounding the use of the quotation in the work.  It's in non-modern
French, and goes like this:
                       Vague la galere, tout ba bien.

Why a galley?  Who has one?

The phrase comes from "Gargantua et Pantagruel," a five-part satirical
novel written in the 16th century by François Rabelais.

"Vous aiderai-je encore là? vogue la galère, tout va bien. Frère Jean
ne fait rien là. Il se appelle Jean fait néant et il me regarde ici
suant et travaillant [...] vous aiderai-je encore là?"

Imago Mundi: Gargantua
http://www.cosmovisions.com/textGargantua.htm

Here's my loose translation of the passage above:

"Will I still help you? let the ship sail, all is well. Brother Jean
isn't doing anything. He who is called Jean does nothing, and he looks
at me here sweating and working [... ] will I still help you?"

Note that the word "galère" can refer to a ship's galley or kitchen,
but it can also refer to the ship itself. The phrase "vogue la galère"
doesn't have to refer to a literal ship; it carries the meaning "come
what may":

"En voguant la galère = while the ship sails on. But the French phrase
'Et vogue la galère' is also an idiom meaning 'Come what may'."

Shakespeare's Sonnets: Sir Thomas Wyatt
http://www.shakespeares-sonnets.com/Wyatt16.htm

My Google search strategy:

Google Web Search: gargantua OR rabelais "vogue la galère"
://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=gargantua+OR+rabelais+%22vogue+la+gal%C3%A8re%22

Best regards,
pinkfreud

Thank you so much, especially for your search strategy (mine didn't
produce anything) and the information on French idiom which makes the
whole thing make sense.  I had thought it was Rabelais but even
knowing that I hadn't been able to  find it.   May you flourish.

sweetpaws

it is vogue la galère tout va bien

I don't know the origin

Many thanks for the five stars and the generous tip!

~pinkfreud