Passion is just an easy term to romanticize and build narratives around that makes you feel warm inside when you read about it. Chances are that most of the great programmers you ever meet followed a sensible schedule, slept well at night, didn't disassemble any electronic device in their childhood to see how it worked and lived a pretty average middle class life without any huge sacrifice required to achieve success.

Chances are you won't read about that because it would make for pretty boring stories. Regular, progressive learning doesn't sound as cool as caffeine fueled 4-day programming sprees.

Then again, people with a truly passionate temperament exist, which is usually great to have around and brighten the mood, but doesn't tell much about actual programming skills.