You Have No Idea Quotes

“When Mom told me not to do something, I did it anyway. The thrill of the adventure, the adrenaline rush and the escape trumped all consequences and there were always consequences because no matter how quiet, sneaky and brillant I thought I was, I couldn’t outsmart Mom.”
― Vanessa Williams, You Have No Idea: A Famous Daughter, Her No-nonsense Mother, and How They Survived Pageants, Hollywood, Love, Loss

“Susan whispered, “Be quiet.”

She told me to get out of bed and lie down on the rug.

I was confused. I looked over at Nancy, who was sleeping soundly. Are we going to play a game? As I tried to make sense of why this older girl wanted me to lie on the rug, Susan pulled down the yellow bloomers of my cotton baby-doll pajamas.

“What are you doing?” I asked.

“Don’t worry. It’ll feel good.” I lay there paralyzed as she moved her tongue between my legs. What was going on? I didn’t speak. She kept at this for I don’t know how long, but it felt good, weird and definitely wrong, all at the same time. She slid my bloomers back up and whispered, “Don’t tell anyone.”
― Vanessa Williams, You Have No Idea: A Famous Daughter, Her No-nonsense Mother, and How They Survived Pageants, Hollywood, Love, Loss

“I climbed in my bed, still tingling at 10 years old, trying to figure out what had just happened. Why had she done that? Was it something teenagers did to each other? Only girls? I thought it had to be something bad. Why would she have told me not to tell anyone?”
― Vanessa Williams, You Have No Idea: A Famous Daughter, Her No-nonsense Mother, and How They Survived Pageants, Hollywood, Love, Loss

“It took me almost a decade to realize that I was an innocent victim and Susan was a 18-year-old predator. She had manipulated me the entire trip just so that she could take advantage of me and I wouldn’t speak a word of it.”
― Vanessa Williams, You Have No Idea: A Famous Daughter, Her No-nonsense Mother, and How They Survived Pageants, Hollywood, Love, Loss

“Mom wasn’t the huggy, touchy, “I love you, sweetie” type mom. She didn’t show affection much, but I thought this time would somehow be different.”
― Vanessa Williams, You Have No Idea: A Famous Daughter, Her No-nonsense Mother, and How They Survived Pageants, Hollywood, Love, Loss

“Mom was a schoolteacher and I was her most challenging student. Throughout my life, Mom’s lessons have helped me survive it all: scandal, love, marriages, divorces, disappointments, children, death, failures, sucess. I’m still learning. Mom has yet to say, “I told you so.”
― Vanessa Williams, You Have No Idea: A Famous Daughter, Her No-nonsense Mother, and How They Survived Pageants, Hollywood, Love, Loss

“When Vanessa was growing up, I didn’t care if she liked me. She could hate me as far as I was concerned and sometimes I think she did. I wanted her to understand that I reacted the way I did because I knew she would continue to do things she would eventually regret. That was always my instinct with Vanessa.”
― Vanessa Williams, You Have No Idea: A Famous Daughter, Her No-nonsense Mother, and How They Survived Pageants, Hollywood, Love, Loss

“I knew why Mom said, “Don’t take nude pictures.” Mom believed I had a future that could be bright and those pictures could one day haunt me. She also told me, “Men can be dogs.” She was trying to protect me. She knew men would prey on me and she knew how trusting I was: “You’re just like your father. You’ll give everyone the benefit of the doubt.”
― Vanessa Williams, You Have No Idea: A Famous Daughter, Her No-nonsense Mother, and How They Survived Pageants, Hollywood, Love, Loss

“When I saw the pictures, I wasn’t angry, just very sad. I stared at them and tried to get into Vanessa’s head. I knew exactly what had happened. I understood how the photographer was able to cajole her. He fed into Vanessa’s need to be daring.

While the world focused on her naked body, I looked into her eyes. They looked so confused, so sad. The look said to me, “Oh my god, what am I doing here?”

As daring as Vanessa wanted to believe she was, she wasn’t really daring at all. I could see she was so uncomfortable, so out of place. I could also see that she was thinking of me. She was hearing my voice telling her not to do the very thing she was doing.”
― Vanessa Williams, You Have No Idea: A Famous Daughter, Her No-nonsense Mother, and How They Survived Pageants, Hollywood, Love, Loss