In an 1822 letter from Thomas Jefferson’s granddaughter Ellen Randolph to her brother-in-law Nicholas Trist, one reads:

“It is just a year to day; my dear Nicholas since we left Monticello together, you, anticipating a long fatiguing journey, I, a short and pleasant one (in your society in spite of bad weather and roads) and a winter of gaiety & amusement—Time as he bears us along with him frequently appears to have a slow and heavy flight wing, but when we look back to the space over which he has hurried us, we are astonished and even dismayed at the rapidity of his flight. every year lessens our enjoyments for every year diminishes the force and elasticity of that spring of hope, which after all I believe is the great good of life—happiness is the golden ball of the Persian Tale always rolling before us, which we are destined never to overtake; but wo to him or to her who loses sight of it. the object of existence is gone,—“ 

… compared to how inspiring Iran (Persia) was to others, how far has foreign Islamism thrown down the ancient and mystical nation of Iran (Persia) since its re-invasion in 1979… it is time for a patriotic hero (lion) to stand up… it is time!!!

[pic source iranpoliticsclub:  The mid to late 18th c. Iran was ruled by a patriotic Zand dynasty… since antiquity, Iranians are known as the children of the lion-n-sun... for educational purposes only]