High-price equation

Einstein’s modest theory of happiness sells for $1.56 million

Winning bid for German-Jewish physicist’s formula for joy far dwarfs auction house estimate of $5,000-$8,000

By AFP 24 October 2017, 8:19 pm Edit

A picture taken on October 19, 2017, shows Gal Wiener, owner and manager of the Winner's auction house in Jerusalem, displaying two notes written by Albert Einstein, in 1922, on hotel stationary from the Imperial Hotel in Tokyo Japan. A note that Albert Einstein gave to a courier in Tokyo, briefly describing his theory on happy living, has surfaced after 95 years and is up for auction in Jerusalem. (AFP PHOTO / MENAHEM KAHANA)

A note that Albert Einstein gave to a courier in Tokyo briefly describing his theory on happy living sold at auction in Jerusalem on Tuesday for $1.56 million, the auction house said.

The winning bid for the note far exceeded the pre-auction estimated price of between $5,000 and $8,000, according to the Winner’s auction house website.

The buyer was a European who wished to remain anonymous, a spokesman for the auction house said.

Albert Einstein, pictured here at his home in Princeton, N.J., in 1949. (Alfred Eisenstaedt via CC/JTA)

“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 told AFP on condition of anonymity after the sale.

The note, on the stationary of the Imperial Hotel Tokyo, says in German that “a quiet and modest life brings more joy than a pursuit of success bound with constant unrest.”

A second Einstein note written at the same time that simply reads “where there’s a will, there’s a way” sold for $240,000, according to Winner’s.

A picture taken on October 19, 2017, one of two notes written by Albert Einstein, in 1922, on hotel stationary from the Imperial Hotel in Tokyo Japan. (AFP PHOTO / MENAHEM KAHANA)