1984 Quotes
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Source: 1984
Author: George Orwell
"It was as though some huge force were pressing down upon you […] persuading you, almost, to deny the evidence of your senses."
It was as though some huge force were pressing down upon you—something that penetrated inside your skull, battering against your brain, frightening you out of your beliefs, persuading you, almost, to deny the evidence of your senses.
Context
When Winston picks up a children's history book and stares into the eyes of Big Brother on the cover, these lines are what go through his head.
Winston can remember when he held the picture of the men that served as concrete evidence against the Party; it makes him think about how the Party can change the past. Even one's own senses can't be held as true; the "final, most essential command" of the Party is to "reject the evidence of your eyes and ears." Winston knows that without an external reality, nothing he could say or do would be able to undermine the Party.
Even if he had that picture, it wouldn't do any good.
Where you've heard it
At literary cocktail parties, for one. Yeah, this quote isn't likely to be dropped into casual conversation, but we could definitely imagine it coming out of an Orwell-obsessed professor type.
It's also entirely possible you've heard this from a really political person—you know, whose skeptical of power and its propaganda.
Pretentious Factor
If you were to drop this quote at a dinner party, would you get an in-unison "awww" or would everyone roll their eyes and never invite you back? Here it is, on a scale of 1-10.
There's really nothing pretentious about this quote other than the fact you're probably going to have to work pretty hard to fit it into a normal conversation.