It is better to seek the source than to follow the streamlets.

Explanation

Always go to the original source — Coke, Bracton, the Digest, the constitution — rather than relying on secondary commentary or modern restatement.

Where this applies

• A lawyer cites a secondary source instead of the original constitutional text.
• Someone relies on a legal commentary rather than going to the original case or statute.

See also

• 1.5.5 Law is the science of what is good and just.
• 1.5.14 The law does not arise from the rule, but the rule from the law.