Sayings of companions:

Sayyiduna ‘Ali has saidsaid to piousness, ‘O people! Teach goodness to yourselvesand your families.’ (Al-Mustadrak lil-Haakim, vol. 3, pp. 317, Hadees 3879)

Sayyiduna ‘Umar Farooq he said said to piousness^:O people! Get knowledge before you are made the chief of any nation.’ (Sahih Bukhari, Kitab-ul-‘Ilm, vol. 1, pp. 43)
Sayyiduna ‘Abdullah Ibn Mas’ood has said, ‘Be a scholar, or a student, or the one who keeps their company. Do not be the fourth one, otherwise you will be ruined.’ (Sunan Daarimi, vol. 1, pp. 91, Hadees 248)

Sayyiduna ‘Abdullah Ibn ‘Abbas has said, ‘Teaching knowledge for a short period of time at night is better than staying awake the whole night.’ (Ibid, chap. Muzakara-tul-‘Ilm, vol. 1, pp. 157, Hadees 614)
Sayyiduna Ka’b has said, ‘The world and everything in it is cursed except the student and his teacher who are good.’ (Ibid, vol. 1, pp. 106, Hadees 322)
Sayyiduna Hasan Bin Saalih has said, ‘People are dependent on knowledge in religion as they are in need of eating and drinking in the world.’ (Sunan Daarimi, vol. 1, pp. 107, Hadees 326)
Sayyiduna Abu Hurayrah has said to , ‘I would rather sit for some time to learn the rulings of religion than stay awake the whole night of Layla-tul-Qadr.’ (Attargheeb Wattarheeb, Kitab-ul-‘Ilm, vol. 1, pp. 58, Hadees 38)

Sayings of pious predecessors:

Sayyiduna ‘Abdur Rahman Hubuli has said to piousness, ‘No gift is better than the one you give to your brother in the form of the words of wisdom.’ (Sunan Daarimi, vol. 1, pp. 112, Hadees 351)
Sayyiduna Abu Darda ) has said , ‘The person who has assumed that travelling in the morning and evening for getting knowledge is not Jihad, his intellect and opinion are defective.’ (Jami’ Bayan-ul-‘Ilm, pp. 49, Raqm 143)

Sayyiduna Jabir has said, ‘I travelled for 30 days from Madina-tulMunawwarah to Egypt just to hear one Hadees.’ (Usud-ul-Ghaabah fi Ma’rifat-is-Sahabah, vol. 3, pp. 178)
Imam Ahmad Bin Hanbal has said, ‘I will not give up getting knowledge until I am buried in the grave.’

The father of Imam Bukhari was a rich businessman. Sayyiduna Imam Bukhari spent the whole wealth given by his father on getting the knowledge of Hadees.
Imam Yahya Ibn Mu’een spent all of his wealth, i.e. 80,000 dinars, on getting religious knowledge. He did not even buy a pair of shoes for himself and would walk barefooted.
Sayyiduna ‘Abdullah Bin Mubarak spent all of his savings, i.e. 40,000 dinars on getting religious knowledge. The Noble Rasool has said, ‘One who keeps the company of anyone even for a moment will be asked on the Day of Judgement whether he established the right of Allah in it or wasted it.’ (Ihya-ul-‘Uloom, vol. 2, pp. 218)