The discourse around the discontent of faculty, staff, and students has been growing since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. While much of the conversation about how to address the issues facing higher education is well-intentioned, efforts to help faculty do not go deep enough to the core of their identity. In this work, we describe a survey we designed and implemented that explores faculty motivation and perceptions of the faculty job. What we have learned through this limited sample is that intellectual engagement and a passion for education motivate faculty rather than some of the more conventional dimensions of motivation such as money or benefits. Faculty find teaching to be enjoyable, interesting, and important - arguably the best part of their job - and they have positive views of their students. These findings suggest that faculty developers might rethink their approach to working with faculty and do so in a way that aligns with the faculty motivations revealed in this research.