When the general thought of black berets, he thought of the need to "maintain relevance for the evolving strategic environment".
"General thoughts are not my strength, but here's a general thought.
For Indians right now my general thought is that there is this huge inferiority complex: we desperately want to belong.
That is what Connecticut's attorney general thought when he examined a new game to be distributed with state lottery tickets.
The general thought is that the lieutenant governor, who presides over the Senate, would have tie-breaking power.
The general thought that emerged in court rulings was student political speech, sí, offensive speech on sex and drugs, no.
As it was, there was still a "real chance we can make it" and prevail in Kosovo through air power alone, the general thought.
Instead, Myanmar has extended Miss Suu Kyi's detention and has promoted the general thought to be responsible for the most recent crackdown on democracy activists, Mr Soe Win.
"The senior general thought that sort of expenditure could look bad, so he opted to create for Burma a league of its own".
For most of the intervening years, my general thought has been: if there are no words for it, then don't say anything about it.
"The general thought at the time was that fat people ate too much," Atkinson, now at Virginia Commonwealth University, told me recently.
