Einstein jotted down 3 lines on a piece of paper in 1922. It just sold for $1.56 million.

Albert Einstein.
(Image credit: Central Press/Getty Images)

An auction earlier this week proved you can indeed buy happiness ... for $1.56 million. Well, sort of: Albert Einstein's theory of happiness sold for the hefty sum at auction Tuesday, NPR reports.

At the Tokyo Imperial Hotel in 1922, Einstein tipped a bellboy with two notes written on pieces of hotel stationery. On one note, Einstein described his theory of happiness: "A calm and modest life brings more happiness than the pursuit of success combined with constant restlessness," he wrote in German. On a second note, Einstein wrote, "Where there's a will there's a way." Einstein signed and dated both notes.

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE
https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up
Explore More
Elianna Spitzer

Elianna Spitzer is a rising junior at Brandeis University, majoring in Politics and American Studies. She is also a news editor and writer at The Brandeis Hoot. When she is not covering campus news, Elianna can be found arguing legal cases with her mock trial team.q