Passion for teaching, considered essential to quality learning, in scholarly literature as well as popular imaginaries, may be difficult to sustain in a political climate in which performativity, compliance and managerialism dominate educational agendas. This study gathered evidence from Australian teachers who were identified by others as passionate, transformative teachers. In seeking to learn what sustains their pedagogical practice the study revealed that even passionate teachers are vulnerable to draining influences from school and sector, necessitating conscientious effort to protect themselves from burnout. This significant finding highlights the need to ameliorate forces that erode passion, commitment and resilience and to actively promote teacher wellbeing, so quality teaching practice can be sustained.