The Desert Fathers

LI. He [Hyperichius] said again, "It is better to eat flesh and to drink wine than to eat the flesh of the brethren by backbiting them."

LXVI. An old man had lived long in the desert, and it chanced that a brother came to see him, and found him ill. And he washed his face and made him a meal of the things he had brought with him. And when the old man saw it, he said, "Indeed, brother, I had forgotten what solace men may have in food." He offered him also a cup of wine. And when he saw it, he wept, saying, "I had not thought to drink wine until I died."

I love that last one.