Albert Einstein is well known for his theory of relativity, but it turns out he also had theories for happy living. Einstein was visiting Tokyo back in 1922 and had just heard he had won the Nobel Prize for physics, while in Japan enjoying a lecture tour. While receiving a delivery in his Hotel Room, the German-born physicist reportedly had no cash to tip the courier, so he gave him wise words instead, saying one day those notes could become valuable. It turns out he was right. Those notes have gone on to be sold at auction for a record price.

A handwritten tip earns a small fortune

The two notes written by Einstein did indeed go on to be valuable, as they sold on auction in Jerusalem on Tuesday for a massive $1.56 million and $240,000. Reportedly this win was kept in the family, too, as the seller of the notes is a nephew of that original courier, who lives in Hamburg, Germany. The buyer is reported to be of European origin but wishes to remain anonymous.

Winner’s Auctions, who sold the notes, said the winning bid was way over estimates made before the sale from $5,000-$8,000. Meni Chadad, a spokesman for Winner’s, said the sale is a new record for auctions in Israel.

Einstein gives an unusual tip in Japan

As the courier came to his hotel room in 1922, Einstein reportedly explained he had no money to tip him, going on to hand him the now famous notes, scrawled on a letterhead from the Imperial Hotel Tokyo.

The basic premise of his recommendations was that winning a long-dreamed-of goal does not necessarily ensure happiness.

Written in German, one Note said that a humble and calm life would ensure more happiness than pursuing success, with the “constant restlessness” that accompanies it. This is the note that sold for a massive $1.56 million.

As reported by the BBC, Einstein’s second note had a simpler theme, one we have all heard before – “Where there’s a will, there’s a way.” Even that simple note won a jackpot for the seller, as it was auctioned off at $240,000.

The Guardian reports that two letters written by Einstein in later years had also gone on sale at Tuesday’s auction, for which buyers paid $33,600 and $9,600. At an auction in Jerusalem in June, other letters by the physicist, writing about physics, Israel and God, fetched almost $210,000.

That report said Einstein was a non-resident governor at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. When he passed away in 1955, the university inherited his archives, leading to the institution holding the most extensive collection of Einstein’s documents in the world.
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