There are times in all of our lives - sometimes all too often - when we invest so much up front that our ultimate gain doesn't even come close to matching our pain. Whether trying to win and/or keep the affection of another, rolling the dice a few too many times in Vegas or pretending to be smarter than those stock-trading babies, we invest and have less to show for it in the end.

"WHAT HATH GOD WROUGHT" -- The first message sent by Samuel Morse, the inventor of the telegraph.