Einstein happiness note sold for $1.6m
Jerusalem : While the importance of Albert Einstein’s theory of happiness may be relative, it fetched US$1.3 million at a Jerusalem auction on Tuesday.
The Nobel-winning scientist’s musings, on a handwritten note, may not be as famous as his groundbreaking theory of relativity, but they still shed light on one of the great modern minds.
Winner’s Auctions and Exhibitions said Einstein was travelling in Japan in 1922 when he was told he would be awarded the Nobel Prize in physics. In Tokyo, Einstein scribbled the note in German to a bellboy after he did not have cash to give him a tip.
“A calm and modest life brings more happiness than the pursuit of success combined with constant restlessness,” it reads.
Gal Wiener, CEO of the auction house, said Einstein told the bellboy that because of his fame, the handwritten note “will probably be worth more than a regular tip.”
Wiener said bidding began at US$2,000 and quickly escalated, with the bidding war lasting around 25 minutes.
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