A handwritten note by Albert Einstein has sold for $1.7 million at an auction in Jerusalem. The piece of paper, written by the famed scientist in Tokyo, Japan in 1922, describes his theory of happiness.
Einstein wrote the note shortly after discovering he was going to win the Nobel Prize for physics, reports Associated Press. Allowing us to gain more insight into one of the great contributors of our time, it reads “a calm and modest life brings more happiness than the pursuit of success combined with constant restlessness.”
Einstein gave the note, which is written in German, to a bellboy in place of a tip. According to CEO of the Winner’s Auctions and Exhibitions Gal Wiener, Einstein told the bellboy the note would be worth much more than a tip one day.
Einstein, who died in 1955, also gave the bellboy a note that read “where there’s a will there’s a way.” This note sold for more than $257,000.
