Formerly this work had been for him an escape from life.
Formerly he had felt that without this work his life would be too gloomy.
Now these pursuits were necessary for him that life might not be too uniformly bright.
Taking up his manuscript, reading through what he had written, he found with pleasure that the work was worth his working at.
Many of his old ideas seemed to him superfluous and extreme, but many blanks became distinct to him when he reviewed the whole thing in his memory.