Musar for Taanit 44:11
רבי יוסי אומר אין היחיד רשאי לסגף את עצמו בתענית שמא יצטרך לבריות ואין הבריות מרחמות עליו אמר רב יהודה אמר רב מ"ט דרבי יוסי דכתיב (בראשית ב, ז) ויהי האדם לנפש חיה נשמה שנתתי בך החייה:
The following question however still remains, Does it mean [as much bread] as would close the opening of an oven, or a row of loaves extending to the opening of the oven? This is left undecided.
Mesilat Yesharim
But the bad sort of Separation is that of the foolish gentiles who abstain not only from taking of the world the non-essential but also from taking that which is essential. They smite their bodies with sufferings and strange afflictions which G-d does not desire at all. On the contrary, our sages said: "it is forbidden for a man to afflict himself" (Taanit 22b). And regarding charity they said: "whoever needs to take but does not take is as one who sheds blood" (Yerushalmi end of Peah). And likewise they interpreted: "'a living soul' - the soul that I gave you, keep it alive" (Taanit 22b). And "whoever sits in fast is called a sinner" (Taanit 11b), which they qualified as being in the case where a person is unable to withstand it.
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