Speak ill of everyone

Oriana Fallaci

From the Times Literary Supplement:

Refused permission to handle political stories---which weren't considered the province of women---[Oriana] Fallaci cut her teeth in Hollywood. It was not a bad training ground for a hungry and ambitious reporter. She listened carefully when Hedda Hopper, the doyenne of gossip columnists, told her: "Don't spare anyone. Speak ill of everyone. Take pleasure in being known as a snake."