 // Brandeis Quote on Openness Here is the definitive citation -- and text -- of this often-used Brandeis quote. US Supreme Court Justice Louis Brandeis wrote in Harper's Weekly, Dec 20 1913: Publicity is justly commended as a remedy for social and industrial diseases. Sunlight is said to be the best of disinfectants; electric light the most efficient policeman. Edited to add: Apparently the authoritative cite is to his book, not the magazine -- in legal writing books are more authoritative than magazines. Louis D. Brandeis, Other People's Money and How the Bankers Use It 92 (1914): "Publicity is justly commended as a remedy for social and industrial diseases. Sunlight is said to be the best of disinfectants; electric light the most efficient policeman." Tags: secrecy, transparency