Mutarrif said: Do not feed your food to a person who has no appetite for it.

Dawud bin Sabur heard Shahr bin Hawshab say: Luqman (peace be upon him) said to his son: O my son! Do not learn knowledge in order to show off with it, and do not abandon knowledge out of disinterest and inclination towards ignorance. And when you see a group remembering Allah, sit with them; if you are knowledgeable, your knowledge will benefit you, and if you are ignorant, they will make you aware. And it may be that Allah casts a merciful glance upon them and you also receive a share of it with them. And if you see a group who are heedless of Allah's remembrance, do not sit with them, for even if you have knowledge, your knowledge will not benefit you, and if you are ignorant, they will only increase you in misguidance or helplessness. And it may be that Allah turns towards them in anger, and you also become included in that anger.

Sayyiduna Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) said: O seekers of knowledge! Act upon it, for indeed the true scholar is the one who acts according to his knowledge, and whose knowledge and actions are in agreement. Soon there will be people who will carry knowledge, but that knowledge will not go below their throats. Their actions will be contrary to their knowledge, and their inner state will be different from their outward appearance. They sit in gatherings and boast to one another, so much so that if a man leaves his companion and sits with someone else, he becomes angry. These are the people whose deeds do not ascend from their gatherings to Allah Almighty.

Masruq (may Allah have mercy on him) said: It is sufficient knowledge for a man that he fears Allah, and it is sufficient ignorance for a man that he is arrogant about his knowledge.

Muawiyah bin Qurrah, may Allah have mercy on him, said: If any nation from among the other nations were to follow the least scholar of this Ummah, that nation would become rightly guided.

Imam Hasan al-Basri, may Allah have mercy on him, said: If a man attains a door of knowledge and acts upon it, then this is better for him than the world and whatever is in it. If he possesses the world, he should set it aside for the Hereafter.

Imam Hasan al-Basri (may Allah have mercy on him) said: (Among the predecessors) when a man would seek knowledge, its effect would be seen in his eyes, humility, tongue, hands, prayer, and asceticism.

Imam Muhammad bin Sirin, may Allah have mercy on him, said: See from whom you take this hadith, for indeed this is your religion.

Bishr bin Hakam reported that I heard Sufyan, may Allah have mercy on him, say: Whoever increases his desire for the world along with an increase in knowledge, he only increases in distance from Allah Almighty.

Hassan said: The more a person advances in divine knowledge, the closer people will be to him because of Allah’s mercy.