My Hero: Bartleby the Scrivener?

Why Bartleby? I love his one and only response to all requests: "I prefer not to." Those words do not seem to be in my vocabulary. But, oh how I wish they were! Not all the time—just SOME of the time. I must have some sort of need to please people, because I have lots of trouble saying, "No," even when saying "Yes" prevents me from taking care of my own needs. Bartleby's stubborn responses eventually led to his demise, but I'd be willing to experiment with a few "I prefer not to"s.