The Ministers Black Veil

Hawthorne presents the lesson that people should reveal their true selves and not judge others on superficial qualitlies by having some of the characters in the short story try to take off Mr. Hoopers veil or have him take the veil off himself. They're trying to get him to be himself and tell him that he doesn't need to hide. He uses the quote, "When a friend shows his inmost heart to a friend; the lover is best beloved" to show that you will be excepted for showing your true self to others and that there is no reason to hide who you are.
A life lesson that is important to me is listening to my parents when they tell me things to do and not to. I learned this lesson the hard way when I didn't listen to my dad when he was looking out for my safety. I ended up having to go to the emergency room and I had to get several stitches in my knee. In the summer of 2009 we put in an inground pool. Since it rained almost every day that summer., the whole process took three months. After two months the pool was in and swimable, but the decking around it wasn't. Around the pool was all metal and then dirt where the decking was going to be put. I was getting ready to go swimming and to avoid stepping on the dirt I walked on the metal edge of the pool. My dad had specifically told me days prior not to walk on the metal. I thought if I was careful I'd be fine. I didn't realize that it was wet so I ended up slipping and slicing my knee open. That's how I got the stitches. Listening to your parents is very important because most of the time they are looking out for you and they know what's best for you. They're advice can be very helpful and if I had listened to my dad in the first place, I wouldn't have a big scar on my knee and nerve damage that is going to effect me for the rest of my life.