It is reported that ʿAbdullāh b. Al-Mubārak – Allāh have mercy on him – said:
How fast these days are in doing away with our lifespans, and how fast this year is in doing away with its months, and how fast this month is in doing away with its days.
Ibn Abī Al-Dunyā, Al-ʿUmr was Al-Shayb article 25.
It is reported that Sufyān Al-Thawrī – Allāh have mercy on him – said:
Whoever hears of a bidʿah, let him not tell it to those who are with him, lest he cast it into their hearts.
Commenting, Al-Dhahabī states, “The majority of the Imāms of the Salaf are upon this; they see that the hearts are weak, and specious arguments ensnare.”
Al-Dhahabī, Siyar ʾAʿlām Al-Nubalāʾ 7:261.
It is reported that Ḥabīb b. ʿUbayd – Allāh have mercy on him – said:
Learn knowledge, understand it and benefit from it (live by it); and do not study it in order to decorate yourself with it, for if you live long you will likely see a time when knowledge will be used for beautification like a man beautifies himself with his garments.
Ibn Al-Mubārak, Al-Zuhd wa Al-Raqāʾiq no. 1056.
It is reported that Abū Juḥayfah – Allāh be pleased with him – said:
Sit with the seniors, mix with the wise, and enquire with the scholars.
Ibn Ḥibbān, Rawḍatu Al-ʿUqalāʾ p176. See Al-Albānī, Al-Ḍaʿīfah ḥadīth 3462.
It is reported that Imām Al-Awzāʿī – Allāh have mercy on him – said:
Learn what not to take like you learn what to take.
Ibn ʿAbd Al-Barr, Jāmiʿu Bayyān Al-ʿIlm article 435.