Praise the water — a selection of photos from the archive of LIFE

It doesn't matter how this word is spelled or pronounced, H2O is a miracle. We drink it, we swim in it, we inhale it with air, and exhale it when we are awake, sleeping, talking or laughing. Why, we, for the most part, consist of it! In the darkness of space, our planet glows blue only because of it.

We present you a small selection of photos from the archive of LIFE magazine, just so that we all realize that without water, we, and everyone we know and love, would not have existed for a long time.

Swimmer Katie Flicker spits out water in the pool in 1962 (George Silk—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images)

Missionary priest Vincent Ferrer (left) and his assistant Mahadev (right) in water from a new well on a farm in India, 1968 (Co Rentmeester—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images)

Thirsty little soccer players drink water from a garden hose in Denver, Colorado, 1939 (Alfred Eisenstaedt—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images)

Linda Joy Young takes a bath, Pasadena, California, 1951 (Ed Clark—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images)

A girl from a village on Saipan Island (Mariana Islands) carries a bottle of water in her hands, and a child is hanging on her back, 1944 (W. Eugene Smith—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images)

A little girl takes tests and looks at a basin with ducklings – the beginning of the use of animals in therapy, 1956 (Francis Miller—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images)

A janitor's son draws water from a pump pump on a farm in the Mississippi Delta, 1937 (Alfred Eisenstaedt—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images)

A steelworker from Aliquippa, Pennsylvania, washes from a pump pump, 1936 (Alfred Eisenstaedt—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images)

Bald Eagle Bath, California, 1949 (J.R. Eyerman—Time & Life Pictures)

A soldier drives a jeep out of the water, 1946 (Thomas McAvoy—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images)

Underwater Wedding Rehearsal, San Marco, Texas, 1954 (John Dominis—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images)

Demonstration of water—repellent impregnation, 1948 (Bernard Hoffman-Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images)

Pen Writing under Water, 1948 (Ralph Morse—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images)

Women demonstrate diving boards – streamlined mahogany boards tied at the end with a rope, 1948 (George Silk—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images)

Katie Flicker dives into the pool at Princeton University Gym, 1962 (George Silk–Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images)

Polar Bear underwater at London Zoo, 1967 (Terence Spencer—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images)

Underwater Ballet, 1945 (Walter Sanders—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images)