"That prison is punishment is the first lesson. Eventually, every inmate hears the correctional officer's favorite sonnet: 'You did the crime, now do your time.' Prison is cold.

"The second lesson inmates learn is how to do the time. During my first two weeks I was administered a battery of tests, after which the guards assigned me to the prison laundry.

"For me, doing time wasn't so bad because I also enjoyed reading and soon discovered that I could counsel needy inmates. But most inmates 'did time' by trying to sleep it away. In the dormitory at any hour of the day or night I'd find half the inmates stretched out, sleeping 18 hours a day. Life in prison corrodes the soul.

"The third lesson is that there is vocational training for the fortunate few, but for most, the only "training" is learning how to avoid getting caught the next time. At Maxwell, evening conversations in the TV room sounded like seminars on improving professional criminal qualifications. It's not surprising that 67 percent of inmates are arrested or incarcerated again within two years.

"The fourth lesson is: trust no one. I had good training for this in the White House, where the maneuvering of presidential counselors resembled a hockey game in the Nixon years. That training served me well in the prison. I was a public figure; every inmate wanted to befriend me. Among them were the many good, God-fearing folk who made their living with secret moonshine stills and who never let prison interfere with their vocation. With a supply of raisins and potatoes swiped from the mess hall, they brewed a lethal mix in the prison dormitory attic and were eager to share their product with me. I declined. Marijuana was freely available, as were other numbers of favors I was offered.

"Many offers seemed well intentioned, but there were those who would have delighted in leading me astray. Prisons are desperately lonely places, deadly boring, and inmates play mind games for amusement."

-- Chuck Colson, Martha Stewart Living Free, The New York Times