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I personally do not reregt the fact that he fell. To me he would fall anyhow at some point sooner or later (as we know he was damned ill, but there were other problems too). What I reregt is the way his regime fell. It was perhaps the first true radical regime change that Iran had ever witnessed since the fall of the Zandiyeh dynasty, which was ensued by a war with Russia that similar to Iran's war with Iraq was catastrophically damaging and disastrous; not to mention that it brought to power one of the most inept dynasties in Iran to power (the Qajars). I think it would be appropriate to post a link to his last radio-televised message, at which he mentioned that he had heard the voice of the Iranian people's revolution and asked them to think over the serious consequences of a radical regime change!Our parents' generation did not listen to him. They thought it was a ploy. Iranians are still paying for their 1979 radical regime change of Pahlavi to "god knows what". Alas, many lives have been lost. Many lives have been ruined. Many families have been destroyed since then.I do not mean to offend your feelings, but he was partly responsible for it, not just because of his illness because he too became too confident, as you quoted him so aptly.But one fact remains, he was a far less cruel despot than those who replaced him, and more forgiving of his enemies. He will be remembered for his hesitation in resorting to outright cruelty; I do not care this was because he was a coward, as some say, or because he was not as harsh as his father, as some other claim. His legacy will remain the most disputed one in the history of Iran for many many years to come, and especially until the present handful are still in power.