Making friends

To find a friend one must close one eye; to keep him — two. (Norman Douglas)

I'm not sure what does it mean by closing one eye when making friends. Does it mean that one should lower their expectations when looking for friends, or be a bit more amenable, or accomodating ? I've not been able to have any lasting friendships since school. I've forgotten even now how to make friends. I refer to movies for how to participate in social interaction, but it's akin to knowing how to solve a mathematical without realizing the principles behind it :D.

So for me, it's pretty much, keep trying until something works. And, ofcourse closing one eye is not enough, so I must close both eyes.