As the man stands in front of his former home, he is confronted with the thought that, perhaps, things are better left as they are. 

…The spirit-world around this world of sense

Floats like an atmosphere, and everywhere

Wafts through these earthly mists and vapours dense
 A vital breath of more ethereal air.

Our little lives are kept in equipoise

By opposite attractions and desires;

The struggle of the instinct that enjoys,

And the more noble instinct that aspires…

(from Haunted Houses by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow)