Einstein’s Scribbled Theory Of Happiness Sells For $1.5M In Record Auction
A scribbled note by Albert Einstein containing the beloved physicist’s theory on happiness sold for a record $1.6 million dollars at an auction this week in Jerusalem, the Guardian reported. Original estimates for the value of the document — a scribbled note given to a courier in Tokyo — were between $5,000 and $8,000.
Einstein’s valuable advice? He wrote that “a quiet and modest life brings more joy than a pursuit of success bound with constant unrest.”
“I am really happy that there are people out there who are still interested in science and history and timeless deliveries in a world which is developing so fast,” the seller, who wished to remain anonymous, said after the sale.
It was the highest amount ever paid for a document at an auction in Israel, according to auctioneers. A second Einstein note written at the same time — it reads, “where there’s a will, there’s a way” — sold for $240,000.
Einstein gave the courier the “tip” after receiving a message at a Tokyo hotel in 1922 — just after having been notified he would receive the Nobel Prize in Physics.
“Maybe if you’re lucky those notes will become much more valuable than just a regular tip,” Einstein reportedly told the messenger.
Contact Ari Feldman at [email protected] or on Twitter @aefeldman.
A message from our CEO & publisher Rachel Fishman Feddersen
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.
We’ve set a goal to raise $260,000 by December 31. That’s an ambitious goal, but one that will give us the resources we need to invest in the high quality news, opinion, analysis and cultural coverage that isn’t available anywhere else.
If you feel inspired to make an impact, now is the time to give something back. Join us as a member at your most generous level.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO