lbn Nuaim reported: Sufyan Ath Thawri, may Allah have mercy on hIm, would say, ”If a man intended to write the hadith. he would study good manners and worship for twenty years before doing so."

Source: Hilyat al Awliya 361

lbn Al—Mubarak, may Allah have mercy on him, sand, "I sought manners for thirty years and I sought knowledge for twenty years. The righteous predecessors would seek manners and then seek knowledge.”

Source: Ghayat al Nihayah 1/446