Wojtyla was also deeply impressed by the dignity of the men with whom he labored in the Zakrzowek quarry. These men were largely uneducated and bore terrible burdens of their own, but they treated the young Wojtyla with sympathy, encouraging him where they could and allowing him to warm himself in a small hut with an iron stove. From these men Wojtyla learned that even the worst drudgery, when borne without self-pity, can be a source of dignity. Wojtyla reflected on the experience two decades later, in a poem called “The Quarry.” He wrote: “The whole greatness of this work dwells inside a
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