From my 40 year old collection of quotes:

Once upon a time, there was a non-conforming sparrow who decided not to fly south for the winter.  However, soon after the weather turned cold, the sparrow changed his mind and reluctantly started to fly south.  After a short time, ice began to form his on his wings and he fell to earth in a barnyard almost frozen.  A cow passed by and crapped on this little bird and the sparrow thought it was the end, but the manure warmed him and defrosted his wings.  Warm and happy the little sparrow began to sing.  Just then, a large Tom cat came by and hearing the chirping investigated the sounds.  As Old Tom cleared away the manure, he found the chirping bird and promptly ate him.

There are three morals to this story:

1)  Everyone who shits on you is not necessarily your enemy.
2)  Everyone who gets you out of shit is not necessarily your friend.
3)  If you are warm and happy in a pile of shit, keep your mouth shut.

There is another moral told indirectly by this story: Chesteron’s Fence.