Imam Malik (رحمة الله عليه) said,
“I love to honour the Hadith of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ and I do not read Hadith without wudu’.”
This honour and respect of his also pertained to who he would or would not take Hadith from:
It was said to Imam Malik, “Why don’t you take narrations from ‘Amr bin Dinar? He replied, “I went to him (‘Amr bin Dinar and I found him narrating Hadith to others while in a standing position. So I thought to myself that the Hadith of the Prophet ﷺ is too great and majestic to take them in a standing position.””
Source: Biography of Imam Malik