It is reported that Al-Awzāʿī said:
Follow the narrations [ways] of those who have preceded (the Salaf) even if people reject you; and beware of people’s opinions, even if they beautify them for you.
Al-Ājurrī, Kitāb Al-Sharīʿah 1:138; Ibn ʿAbd Al-Barr, Jāmiʿ Bayān Al-ʿIlm wa Faḍlihi 3:373.
Also read
It is reported from Al-‘Abbās b. Al-Walīd that ‘Uqbah said: I was once with Arṭa’ah b. Al-Mundhir when one of the people in the gathering said, “What do you say about a man who sits with the followers of the Sunnah and mixes with them, but when the followers of Bid’ah are mentioned he says, […]
It is reported that Imām Al-Awzāʿī (d157H) wrote: O Muslims, fear Allāh and obey Him, and accept the advice of the sincere advisers and the exhortation of the exhorters, and know that this knowledge is religion, so be careful about what you do [in it] and from whom you take [it] and who you follow […]
A person must study what is incorrect as well as what is correct.