Since walking on water is impossible for an unaided person, it is used as an example of an impossible task or, if apparently achieved, a miracle or an illusion.[1]
Leonardo da Vinci, in the Codex Atlanticus manuscripts, sketched designs for floats to allow a man to walk on water.[2]
The phrase is widely used to refer to the performance of extraordinary tasks, as in the titles of books that aim to show individuals how to break through their personal limitations and achieve dramatic success.[3]
In addition to the well-known miracle written about in the New Testament (as in the Gospel of John 6:16–21), in which Jesus walks on water, there are reports of miraculous acts of walking on water in several religions, such as Buddhist texts, some Hindu stories, the Huang-Po story, the stories of Orion, Horus, Macbeth, the Aeneid and some native American myths.[4][5]