Einstein note written in Tokyo sold for $1.56m

October 25, 2017

Jerusalem, Oct. 24 (Jiji Press)--A 1922 handwritten note by Albert Einstein during his stay in Tokyo describing his thought on happy living sold for 1.56 million dollars at an auction in Jerusalem on Tuesday.

The buyer was a European, according to the Winner's auction house in Jerusalem.

After starting at 2,000 dollars, bidding quickly pushed up the price far higher than the estimated winning bid of between 5,000 dollars and 8,000 dollars.

The Einstein note, written by hand in German on a sheet of Imperial Hotel letter paper 21 centimeters long and 13 centimeters wide, says, "A calm and modest life brings more happiness than the pursuit of success combined with constant restlessness."

On his way to Japan by ship in 1922, Einstein was informed that he was to receive the Nobel Prize in Physics. During his stay at the hotel in Tokyo, he gave the note to a Japanese messenger who came to his room to deliver a letter, as he did not have any tip available.

Another note written by the physicist at the time reads, "Where there's a will there's a way." It was sold for 240,000 dollars. Jiji Press

TOKYO- This file photo taken on October 19, 2017 shows a note written by Albert Einstein, in 1922, on hotel stationary from the Imperial Hotel in Tokyo Japan.

The note that Albert Einstein gave to a courier in Tokyo briefly describing his theory on happy living sold at auction in Jerusalem on October 24, 2017 for $1.56 million, the auction house said. Jiji Press