Einstein’s “theory of happiness” sells for $1.56 million
A few words he scribbled in 1922 in place of a tip — advice on a calm, modest life — fetched a fortune in Jerusalem.
On 24 October 2017 a note Einstein wrote in a Tokyo hotel in 1922 sold in Jerusalem for $1.56 million. Without cash for a tip, he handed a courier a slip with his recipe for happiness: “A calm and modest life brings more happiness than the pursuit of success combined with constant restlessness.”
He had just learned he was to receive the Nobel Prize, and joked that his autograph might one day be worth more than a coin. It took 95 years, but he was spectacularly right.