Context

This line is written by Moses in Genesis 1:28.

God is talking to Adam and Eve here, telling them to have a bunch of babies to populate the earth, and letting them know that, as humans, they have dominion over all the other creatures on the planet. That doesn't really mean that humans can just do whatever they want, but that the "dominion" comes with a sense of responsibility. We gotta take care of the fish of the sea and the fowl of the air and everything that moves.

Sounds like a lot of work.

Where you've heard it

Nowadays you often hear people talking about man's dominion over the earth in the context of conservation, environmentalism, pollution, vegetarianism, and so on.

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.

Sounds kind of pretentious, especially if you use it to justify littering or something.