A note Albert Einstein gave to a courier in Tokyo that contained his advice on a happy life has sold at an auction house in Jerusalem for $1.56 million (Rs 10.15 crore), BBC reported on Wednesday. The winning bid for the note exceeded the estimate of between $5,000 and $8,000, according to Winner’s auctions, AFP reported.
“It was an all-time record for an auction of a document in Israel,” the auction house’s spokesperson Meni Chadad said.
When Einstein wrote the note, the broadcaster said, he had just come to know that he had won the Nobel prize for physics. The courier came to the physicist’s hotel room to deliver a message and either refused to accept a tip, in accordance with Japanese practice, or the famous scientist did not have any change on him.
Einstein then wrote the note and told the courier that if he was lucky, one day the note would become valuable. His advice to the messenger was that it was not necessary to achieve a long-dreamt goal in order to experience happiness. “A calm and humble life will bring more happiness than the pursuit of success and the constant restlessness that comes with it.”
The auction house also sold a second note written by Einstein that read: “Where there’s a will, there’s a way.” It fetched $240,000 (Rs 1.55 crore), BBC reported.
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