Proverbs  are quite common in spoken English. We do not normally put them in a composition or letter. Sometimes it is helpful if you know what common proverbs mean. Here are a few examples: Once bitten, twice shy. If a dog bites me, I shall be twice as careful in future when I see it. This proverb is also used to apply to many things and not only to dogs. If you have been cheated at a shop, you will not go to the same shop again. A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush. If I am a hunter, trying to catch birds, it is better to catch one bird than to see two birds in a bush but not be able to catch them. Thus this means that what you have already got is better than the chance of being able to get something bigger in the future. Too many cooks spoil the broth(soup). When too many people do something together, they get in each other's way and cannot do a good job. To pour oil on troubled waters Is to try to calm things down. Oil is lighter than water. If a ship is in trouble at sea, another ship may come to help it. The second ship can send small boats to rescue people. However, it may first pour oil on the sea to make the sea less rough. Don't be a dog in a manger . Means " Don't be selfish." In a stable , the manger is the place where the horse's food is put. Sometimes a dog will sleep in the manger and bard when a horse comes to get its food. The dog does not want to eat the hay in the manger but it will not let the horse eat it. He's sitting on the fence. Means that somebody will not say whether he is in favour of a plan or against it. He is sitting on a fence between two opposing sides, perhaps waiting to see which side will win. He who pays the piper calls the tune. A piper is a musician . The man who employs or pays a musician can say what tunes the man will play. Thus this means that if a man provides the money for a plan, he can say how it will be carried out. You can't get blood out of a stone means that you can't get something out of a person who has not got any of the things you want. For example, you cannot get a million dollars from a poor man. Peter had a bicycle which was much too small for him but he did not want to let his younger brother ride on it. His mother was angry and said to him : "  _  ".
You cannot get blood out of a stone Don't be a dog in a manger The early bird gets the worm Don't be a horse in the manger