At the head of all actions, and thus also of world-historical actions, stand individuals as the subjectivities that give actuality to the substantial (§ 279 Anm.). As these living embodiments of the substantial deed of the world spirit, and thus immediately identical with it, that deed remains hidden from them themselves and is not their object or end (§ 344); nor do they receive the honor of it, or thanks, from their contemporaries (ibid.), nor from the public opinion of posterity; rather, as merely formal subjectivities, they have their share only in this opinion — as immortal fame.